Rinnegan: Tool of God
by HaremNoJutsu
Summary: This version of the story has been discontinued, I've rewritten it so check it out on my profile.
1. Chapter 1

**Rinnegan: Tool of God.**

**A/N: **Hey what's up guys, this is my Naruto story, it's my first Fanfiction but it's something I've been wanting to write for a while now, in this story. Naruto does have the Kyuubi sealed within him, but his whiskers only ever appear when he utilizes the Kyuubi's chakra, which won't be much at all during this story, since he'll have a godlike chakra pool thanks to his Rinnegan. Naruto is also aware of the Kyuubi inside but it's chakra doesn't leak into his.

Itachi will be a gray character, neither good nor bad, he'll take Sasuke of the coup on the night of the massacre, he also invites Sasuke to leave Konoha and join Akatsuki when he's ready.

Yes, he'll have Rinnegan; he'll be like Nagato would be if he hadn't used **Kuchiyose: Gedō Mazō**. So yes, he may seem obscene at points, but his normal enemies will be stronger as well; he'll make full use of his Rinnegan abilities as well as all 6 of the chakra elements, he won't use the Yin and Yang element much since I'll have to do some extensive research into what it actually is, Nagato will also train Naruto in the main Rinnegan abilities, like the gravity manipulation, the ninjutsu absorption and summoning that King of Hell, or whatever it is, that'll be used for interrogation. The basic summary of the story is:

Naruto's been abused by the villagers for the majority of his life, Itachi does the Uchiha massacre and sees Naruto getting a beating from the villagers while he's escaping, he watches as Naruto activates his Rinnegan and kills all of the villagers with ease. He decides to take Naruto with him. The story changes dramatically here, as I'm going to have Sakura go with them, since she's Naruto's only friend, yes, I know she's OOC so she'll be like the Part 2 version of Sakura, minus that ridiculous charade of lying to Naruto. It won't be a dark Naruto fanfiction; he'll be ruthless and cold at points, but also fun and cheerful. Kind of like Madara/Tobi. They go on to join Akatsuki, since no-one there can sense the Kyuubi chakra in Naruto, he has full control of it, since the powers of Naruto's unconscious Rinnegan have kept it at bay until then, so he uses it to do the same thing, basically the Rinnegan will suppress the Kyuubi and its chakra, Sakura and Naruto will be replaced by Karin and Sai on Team 7, Sasuke will leave for Orochimaru, he'll also take Karin with him and she'll be trained by Kabuto, training there in the medicinal arts. Oh yes, the Chuunin exams will be taken 3 years later than the one in the manga, so everyone will be at least 15, if not 16 years old. As you have to be 10 to be allowed into the academy in my story, so the Uchiha massacre will also take place 2 years later, when Sasuke is 9. I think he's older than Naruto, if he isn't, he is slightly in this story. Itachi will also be older, he'll be 15 when Naruto is 9, so he's 6 years older, just think about his normal ninja position before he left, and revolve them around the age difference, and you'll see what I mean.

Hiruzen is also ridiculously OOC in this chapter, but in my story Naruto is abused daily, so he has reason to be aggressive towards a selective group of villagers.

One more thing, sorry :D, but Naruto will have his bijuu removed at the start of the second chapter. Since the Rinnegan has kept the Kyuubi suppressed, Naruto's chakra pathways are the same as any normal person, therefore he can live without the Kyuubi as his body has not adapted to it. I know it sounds silly but I wanted to get it out of the way ASAP.

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 1:**

**Streets of Konoha:**

"There he is! Get him!" One of the mob shouted.

Naruto, who was sprinting down the street, had looked back only for a second to discover he'd been spotted, his eyes widened as he noticed them sprinting towards him, several ninja gaining on him. He stumbled and cried out in pain as a shuriken struck his calf.

"Wait! Please don't!" Naruto cried out.

The mob merely smirked before descending on the small boy.

**Elsewhere in Konoha:**

"Hmm, it's Naruto's 9th birthday tomorrow, I wonder if anyone's going to celebrate that, and not the sealing of the Kyuubi, idiot villagers." Sakura, who was sitting on her windowsill, pouted as she thought about what might happen tomorrow. "I guess it'll just be me and him like last year then." She thought with a grim expression on her face.

_Flashback _

Naruto was strolling down one the main streets of Konoha, oblivious to all the glares he was receiving, ignoring all the shouts of "Demon!" and "You're not welcome here!", he already knew about the Kyuubi, since one of his attackers had already revealed it to him, much to the Hokage's chagrin. The offender in question had been silenced. Permanently.

He didn't know why but for some reason, today just felt like it was going to be good day even though tomorrow was his birthday, terrible things usually happen, so he decided to stop by at Ichiraku Ramen and ask Old Man Teuchi if anything interesting was going on that would provoke such a feeling.

On the way to the Ramen stand, Naruto's eyes glanced upwards towards the Hokage monument,

'_One day I'll surpass you 4 and show the world that I'm not just a container for the Kyuubi but a strong ninja as well, then they'll regret all the horrible things they've said!'. _Naruto thought to himself, his eyes still transfixed on the Hokage monument, he didn't a notice small pink haired girl step out from around the corner and walked straight into her, knocking them both over.

Sakura was shocked, one moment she was thinking about what Ino had told her about ignoring the bullies and showing off her forehead, telling her it was something that she should be proud of, the next moment she's on the floor with a strange blonde haired boy lying next to her, she was surprised when he stood up so suddenly and stood back, his arms raised above his face in a protective manner.

"I'm sorry, please don't hit me!" He shouted. Sakura slowly stood up, too surprised to say anything. "Are you okay?" she asked.

'_Eh?'_ Naruto thought as he slowly opened his eyes, and looked at her. She was a little smaller than him, her hair was pink, which surprised him, she wore a green long sleeved shirt, with tan cargo shorts, that stopped just below her knees. '_She's cute." _ He thought as he looked at her face, a small blush flashed across it. The last thing he noticed were he striking green eyes, he gave her a wide grin.

"Hehe, I'm fine, more importantly, I didn't know hurt you when I knocked you over did I?" He asked.

"Um, I'm fine thanks" She replied, shocked when he replied in that serious tone. She looked him over, he was wearing a white t-shirt with what looked like an orange spiral on it and a pair of khaki coloured shorts. She looked into his eyes, '_His eyes seem they like they're staring right through me, there's something about them, I wonder what it is?' _She thought, she glanced at the rest of his face, '_He's also quite good looking',_ she blushed soon after fully realizing what she'd thought.

"Stay away from him girl, he's dangerous" an elderly woman spoke as she walked by, hearing their conversation.

Naruto looked down, as Sakura seemed to frown at the older woman, she noticed what he'd done and eyed him curiously. He felt her eyes on him, and quickly looked up to face her, he gave a sad smile before telling her he'd see her around. He walked off.

About 10 steps later, he heard "Wait! Wait please!", he turned around to see who it was, surprised to find the girl he'd just bumped into.

"Hey! Don't just walk off!, What was with that old lady back there? In fact, you keep getting nasty looks and some particularly horrible comments from the villagers, even in broad daylight, did you do something wrong?" She asked innocently. Naruto thought about what she said;

'_She seems nice, I wonder how she'd react if I told her about the Kyuubi, maybe I should start being more open about it, and see what happens.'_ Naruto thought.

"I've got to go, but I'll tell about me later on today, meet me on the top of the Hokage monument in 3 hours time okay?" Naruto asked.

"Uhm, okay, oh, what's your name?" Sakura replied, curious as to whom the mysterious boy in front of her was.

Naruto thought for a moment before telling her; "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! Remember it, because you're going to be hearing it a whole lot from now on!" He laughed after he said it, and surprisingly she giggled slightly as well.

"Well, my name's Haruno Sakura" She promptly replied, smiling as she did so.

"Ok, Sakura, don't forget, top of the Hokage monument in 3 hours, I'm already excited". He shouted, running away from her with a skip in his step. '_He's so odd' _she thought as she walked back home.

Sakura opened the front door of her and shouted "I'm home!", she took off her shoes and stepped into the open plan hall of her house.

"I'm in the kitchen dear" her Mother replied. Within a matter of seconds, Sakura walked into the kitchen and sat down on a stool, swinging her legs.

Yori smiled at her daughter, catching her entrance out of the corner of her eye, she turned to face her with a smile on her face, she noticed Sakura's face had a thoughtful expression.

"Something wrong dear?" She queried.

Yori had already turned back to preparing dinner when Sakura asked her question.

"Okaasan, do you know about Uzumaki Naruto?" Sakura asked, wanting to find out anything she could about mysterious boy she'd met earlier.

Yori froze upon hearing her daughter's question. "I know of him, why do you ask?" Yori responded, caution evident in her voice. She'd decided that if Sakura ever met the boy, she'd let her form her own opinion about him, Yori herself thought the boy was a hero. She was disappointed at the rest of the Village's treatment of him.

"I bumped into him earlier today, he was getting all these nasty looks from people and horrible things were shouted at him, he was nice to me and asked me if I was okay after he knocked me over, do you know why he's treated that way? Oh yea, he also told me to go and meet on the top of the Hokage Monument in 3 hours, is it okay if I go, he said he had a secret to tell me." Sakura replied, a sad tone noticeable in her voice.

Yori smiled, she liked the fact her daughter didn't just brush off the comments, she knew Naruto was a prankster, and that might have convinced the children the comments were justified. She was proud of her daughter for at being so observant, and also for not running off, which she tended to do when meeting new people on her own.

"Of course you can go and meet him, dear, I do know why he's treated that way, but it's up to him to tell you about it. Who knows? That could be what he's going to tell you later." Yori laughed as she finished her sentence and turned back to slicing the vegetables.

Sakura thought about what her Mother had said, and decided it was best to respect Naruto's privacy and allow him to tell her whatever it was when he was ready.

"Hai, I understand, I'm going to my room." Sakura said, leaving the room and going upstairs.'

**2 and a half hours later:**

Naruto had spent the last 2 and a half hours, eating ramen and discussing meaningless topics with Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, they seemed to like him for who he is, and didn't even care about the Kyuubi that was sealed inside him, it gave him some satisfaction that there are decent human beings in the world, his encounter with Sakura earlier in the day only seemed to strengthen that possibility.

He slowly made his way to where he had asked Sakura to meet him earlier, he reached the top of the monument and sat down, taking in the beauty of the village from, what he said, the best view ever.

Sakura made her way slowly towards the Hokage monument, thinking about various things that Naruto could say, had he pulled some unspeakable prank that he can't let anyone know about, was he related to someone who'd done terrible things, many thoughts of this kind rushed through her head as she finally reached the top of the staircase, and noticed a blonde head of hair in the distance. She smiled when she noticed him, she didn't know why.

"Naruto!" She shouted as she walked up to him.

Naruto heard her voice, so he stood up and turned towards her, "Hi, Sakura-chan", he noticed a faint frown appear on face, before a blush crept up after it, '_Have I done something wrong' _ He thought to himself.

"I – I'm sorry, Sakura, I haven't really spoken to many people my age, so I don't really know how to speak to you", he laughed as he finished his sentence.

Truth be told, she didn't him calling her that, the only reason she frowned was because she unsure of how to react, no-one had ever called her anything like that before. She frowned simply because she was shocked, the blush however was unexpected and she couldn't explain it.

"Let's sit down" Naruto offered , Sakura nodded and sat down next to him, before glancing out over the village.

"Wow, this view is amazing" she said, only for Naruto to laugh and agree.

"Yea, I come up here quite a lot, just to look out and think about lots of things." He told her. "Anyway, I've got something important to tell you".

This caught her attention so she remained quiet while he continued.

"You know tomorrow is October 10th right?" She nodded, looking slightly confused, he chuckled before continuing, "You know about the Kyuubi attack and Yondaime defeating it at the cost of his own life?" She nodded once more.

"Well, that's not exactly true." He didn't even bother looking at her, he could just feel the confusion radiating off of her. "You see, tomorrow is my birthday." He turned to face her now, she looked shocked. "Now listen to me carefully Sakura, you can't reveal what I'm about to tell you to anyone, do you understand?" She nodded her head furiously, as if demanding to be told what the secret was immediately. "Right, well the Kyuubi is sealed inside me, and the villagers know this, so that's why you see them calling me names and giving me nasty looks in the street." Sakura's eyes were widened now, she felt shock and disgust at the villagers' course through her veins, and she couldn't help but start sobbing a little. This surprised Naruto who immediately tried to comfort her.

"He – hey, don't start crying on me now" He joked. She looked up from staring a hole in the ground to a smiling Naruto. "Listen to me, I don't mind it, I'm used to it now, as soon as one of them let slip I was the Kyuubi. I got worried and went to speak to Jii-san, oh I mean Hokage-sama, about it, he told me that the Kyuubi should be affecting me somehow, but something has prevented it, he doesn't have any idea what is, neither does Kakashi-niisan or Jiraiya, he's some legendary ninja apparently, but all I've ever seen him do is peek on women in the hot springs."

Sakura went pale at this and eyed him suspiciously.

Naruto was confused for a moment before suddenly catching on. "WHAT!? No! I didn't join him or anything, I tried my hardest to stop him, but I couldn't do anything, so I had Jii-san come down and discipline him." He laughed for a bit after that, before regaining his composure and continuing.

"He said I should have some kind of markings or indication I'm a Jinzuuriki, I think that's what he called it, oh wait no, it's Jinchuuriki, it means something like "The Power of Human Sacrifice", I'm supposed to protect the village against the Kyuubi and be viewed as some kind of hero." He stopped abruptly and gazed out over the village, before laughing to himself. "At least that's what Yondaime wanted me to be seen as". He smiled sadly as he continued staring out across the village. "But since I don't have any markings, I'm not recognized as easily as I should be; I suppose I should consider it a blessing, as to what some of these villagers have done to me." He spat out, venom dripping off every word. Sakura frowned at this, thinking about some of the words she'd heard people use against Naruto earlier today; she sobbed a little harder thinking that was something he had to go through every day.

He placed his hand on hers unconsciously, she was surprised by this gesture and asked him; "But why did the Yondaime choose you?"

Naruto shook his head, and told her "I don't know, Jii-san won't tell me, I think it's because I was just a newborn orphan since I've been told my mother died during child birth, I don't know about my father, I guess he died before I was born, or he left my mother when she was pregnant. I don't really think about them."

Sakura squeezed his hand in response and stood up, releasing Naruto's hand in the process. She looked down at him and smiled, before telling him; "Naruto, thank you for telling me about yourself, maybe tomorrow we can have a party for your birthday?"

Naruto was shocked; someone finally wanted to have a birthday party with him? He stood up and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't know Sakura-chan, I haven't got any money so we couldn't do anything, since we're both still young we can't work either so I have no income apart from what Jii-san gives me occasionally and sometimes even that isn't enough." Naruto told her.

Sakura just smiled at this, "Don't worry, we don't have to go anywhere, we could just spend the day together and have fun." She replied.

Naruto seemed to like this idea and quickly regained his former confidence, "Yeah! It'll be fun" he shouted, grinning widely, which in turn got a small happy smile from her.

_Flashback End._

"Well, no use sitting around here, I may as well go and find him" Sakura thought aloud. She stood up and walked out of her room and down the stairs. "Mum, I'm going out!", she shouted into the kitchen as she was putting her shoes in, "Ok dear, be sure to back in time for dinner", Yori shouted back to her daughter. Sakura just smiled and responded with a quick "Hai", before walking out the door.

**Back with Naruto:**

Naruto was currently lying on the ground crying in pain as villager and ninja alike continued to kick and stamp on him.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" A roar echoed around the area, freezing all in the place, the mob turned to see a furious Hokage and a group of ANBU by his side.

"We're punishing the demon, Hokage-sama!" one of the more confident members of the mob shouted out.

The Hokage stepped forward causing everyone in the area to unconsciously step back, "A demon you say? All I see is a 9 year old boy, that you're abusing I might hasten to add, I've told a few of you here once before, that neither Jiraiya nor myself, can find any trace of the Kyuubi's chakra within his body, so your excuses of 'It's the demon in disguise' will never work". The Hokage furiously told them.

Some of the weaker minded villagers began to realize what they've gotten themselves into, and gulped.

"Frankly, I don't know if there's anyone stronger in the village than me or Jiraiya, so whoever decided to beat the boy this time, step forward now." The Hokage commanded. A Chuunin stepped forward proudly, ignoring whispers "You fool, what are you doing?!" and "Imbecile.". The Hokage walked towards the man, everyone in the area expecting him to do something, only for him to ignore the man and walk over to Naruto.

"Naruto, are you alright" Hiruzen asked softly. Naruto looked up towards the man, and nodded, before allowing himself to fall into unconsciousness. The Hokage smiled at this before picking the boy and carrying him past the Chuunin, noticing the glare the Chuunin gave him. He reached the group of ANBU, and said, without even turning his back; "Take this fool to Ibiki and have him killed afterwards, considering what they've done to the boy this time, I should do far worse but I don't want to risk incurring the wrath of the council."

Two members of the ANBU seemingly disappeared and suddenly reappeared behind the Chuunin and swiftly chopped him across the back of the neck. One of the them slung the offender over his shoulder and shunshinned out of the area. The Hokage turned around and faced the group, a look on his face that none of the group had ever seen before. "I suggest you leave this area within the next five seconds, if you don't want the same fate as your so-called leader." He told them. It didn't take a genius to realize he was deadly serious and the entire group had dispersed before the 5 seconds had even passed.

"I'll take him to the hospital, I want you to get me the names of any of the ninja you recognized in that group, and have their names on my desk within the next 2 hours" The Hokage spoke.

The remaining ANBU members simply nodded before shunshinning away. The Hokage sighed; looking down at the boy he smiled and proceeded towards the Hospital.

**The Hospital:**

A Doctor sat in the staff room with a cup of coffee resting between his hands. The door suddenly burst upon and a Nurse frantically looked around the room, before her saw the Doctor.

"Izashi-san, Hokage-sama has brought Uzumaki Naruto in again, he looks to be quite bad this time as well." The Nurse told him.

"What?! Shit, not again!" Izashi stood up, the coffee slipping out of his hands in the process, rushing out the door with the nurse, "Which room are they in?" He demanded, a tone in his voice the Nurse had never heard before.

"205." She replied, he nodded before rushing off ahead of her, "Thanks, now find another Doctor, if it's as bad as I think, we're going to need them." He shouted back.

She merely nodded, before turning back the way she came, looking around for anyone she thought looked qualified enough to deal with the Uzumaki boy.

**Room 205:**

"I came as soon as I was told Hokage-sama, how is the boy doing?" Izashi, who had just entered the room asked while keeping his eyes on the sleeping boy in front of him.

The Hokage nodded and replied; "He's fine now, I've had a nurse perform some basic medical jutsu to heal any of his cuts and bruises, he should be free to go within the next few hours, but I called you to ask if you could do a quick scan to make sure there is no internal damage."

Izashi merely nodded before standing next to the bed, performing a few hand seals causing both hands to glow a dull green, placing them on the boy's chest. As he was going through the normal tests of such a scan, he asked the Hokage, "What happened this time Hokage-sama?"

He heard Hiruzen sigh before he told him, "Some imbecile Chuunin decided to lead an attack against the boy, I've had him escorted to Ibiki and he's been sentenced to death. It may seem a bit extreme but I think its fair compared to what Naruto has been subject to throughout his life. I keep reminding people than neither me nor Jiraiya can find any trace of the Kyuubi's chakra in his system, but they still seem adamant, they must think it's masking its chakra or something. It's extremely strange though, he should definitely have some of the Kyuubi's chakra in his network, but there's no trace of it at all, as if it's being held back or perhaps even forced back. I know Naruto already as more Chakra than I do, and he's not even a Genin. I thought it was because of the fox, but once Jiraiya and I did a more intense set of tests on him, we realized that's his normal amount. It's clear to me that Naruto has double if not triple the amount of chakra a Kage would have."

Izashi was shocked at this, "But – but how is that even possible?!" He managed to get out.

Hiruzen smiled and told him "Like I said, I have no idea, I'm sure once he joins the Academy, we'll find out."

**An Hour Later:**

Sakura had been searching around for Naruto, she'd looked everywhere; his house, the Ichiraku Ramen stand, the markets in case he was out shopping for food other than Ramen, the top of the Hokage Monument, all of these places and there was no sign of him at all.

She started to worry and decide to go and ask the Hokage if he'd seen him.

Hiruzen was currently sitting at his desk, skimming over the vast of amount of paperwork that still needed to be done by the end of the day, he groaned inwardly before picking up a pen and signing the first sheet.

A knocking on the door shook from his signing spree, he looked up before uttering "Come in", he instantly recognized the girl who had entered, Naruto's only friend, Haruno Sakura, he smiled before gesturing her to come and sit down at his desk.

"Hokage-sama, do you know where Naruto is?" Sakura queried.

"Ah" Hiruzen said, Sakura had already noticed the look on his face, one of disappointment and sadness, "Did something happen to him?" She asked, as if demanding an answer.

"He's in the Hospital, he was attacked earlier, and it always gets worse this time of year." Hiruzen responded sadly.

"Oh...I see, well, is he ok and can I go and see him?" Sakura had never gotten used to the fact that Naruto was hospitalised quite often and it always brought tears to her eyes.

Hiruzen smiled fondly at the girls' question, "He's in Room 205 over at the Hospital, he was sleeping when I left, but that was about half an hour ago, I'm sure he'll be awake and happy to see you, go now." He spoke with a smile on his lips.

"Hai, I'll head over there now." Sakura smiled, she stood up and walked out the door, before breaking into a full sprint to reach the Hospital as soon as possible.

**Room 205:**

Naruto was just waking up; he seemed to ache all over, all he could remember was the crowd beating him and then suddenly stopping.

He stood up out of the bed, almost collapsing from the pain in the back of his leg, _'Oh that's right, that shuriken, I'd forgotten about that', _He thought to himself, whilst still trying to regain his footing, he grasped the side of the bed and pushed off towards the windowsill, making a grab for it and pulling himself up.

"Huh, sometimes I wonder about this village, I'd have gotten out of here long ago, if it wasn't for Jii-san, Ero-Sennin, Kakashi-niisan and Sakura." He thought aloud as he looked out across the village.

"What was that about me?" Sakura asked with a smile on her face as she strolled into the room and sat on the other empty bed in the room.

"Ah! Sakura-chan, it was nothing, but what are you doing here?" He asked her as he slowly turned to face.

"I heard from Hokage-sama that you were attacked earlier, so I decided to come and make sure you were ok." She replied sadly.

He turned around at this point, "I'm fine Sakura, really." He responded.

"Hmm, alright, do you mind if I stay here for a bit longer?" She asked him. She know he wasn't alright and there was something he wasn't telling her, she figured it was about the village, but she know not to pry into those matters, without him talking to her about it first.

"Sure, as long as it's you, I don't mind." He grinned widely, which caused her to blush slightly.

"So what are we going to do for your birthday tomorrow?" Sakura asked.

"With the way things have been going this year, probably hiding in the forest outside of Konoha" He joked. "No, I think we should just go to Ichiraku and act like any normal day, the festival for the defeat of the Fox will probably take up almost everyone's time anyway." He spoke seriously this time.

She looked at him and smiled before agreeing. "I'm going to go, you'd best head straight home when you get out, in case some people have already planned something." She advised him.

He nodded before saying Good-bye to her, giving her a wide grin as she left and turning back towards the village.

**The Next Day:**

Sakura and Naruto had had a surprisingly fun day, considering the circumstances, they had lunch together, and spoke about various things at the top of the Hokage monument, it was later in the evening, and an ominous feeling had crept into the village.

Naruto had realized he had no groceries so he'd gone out to fetch them, on his way home however a large group of drunken villagers and ninja had decided to punish him, their excuse the same as always "This is what Yondaime would have wanted."

Naruto was sprinting away as fast as he could, in his confusion he'd walked into a dead end passageway.

He turned around to hear laughter and sneering comments, he screamed as the crowd set upon him..

**The Uchiha Compound: **

"Sasuke... Don't come in".

"What?!" Sasuke screamed as he burst through the door, "FATHER! MOTHER!" he shouted as he noticed their bodies on the floor.

"I warned you Sasuke" Itachi spoke as he stepped out from the shadows.

"BROTHER! Father and Mother are dea- ..." Sasuke stopped halfway as his mind registered what had happened.

"YOU KILLED THEM!? Why?!" Sasuke roared as he charged towards his brother, only for Itachi to seemingly faze out of existence and appear before Sasuke, his fist planted in the young boy's stomach.

"You want to know why? Fine, I'll tell you, this clan disgusts me, killing each other over such trivial things, power, authority, it's pathetic. If anything, the last 3 Ninja Wars have shown us that nothing good ever comes from obtaining such things at such a high price, namely thousands of people dead, but this doesn't seem to matter to a clan as fickle as ours, they were planning a coup to take over Konoha, and destroy everything so many people died for." Itachi angrily proclaimed.

Sasuke collapsed on the ground, being violently sick, before running to the door. "DON'T KILL ME PLEASE" he screamed.

Itachi calmly walked up to the boy, grabbing hold of his shirt and turning him around to face him. Before, surprisingly, smiling at him and telling him; "I'm not going to kill you Sasuke, you knew nothing of this, I had hoped I'd be able to make it away without confronting you, I'm leaving the village, to join a group that wants to bring peace to the world, I refuse to stay here. There are only a select few people who I respect in this village, who they are is information I'm not ready to divulge to you yet. Become strong little brother, and when you feel ready, leave the village, I will find you and we shall talk again. Goodbye. I'm sorry."

With that, Itachi struck Sasuke once more in the stomach, causing the boy to topple over unconscious. Itachi was already gone before his body had reached the floor.

**Streets of Konoha:**

Itachi was currently sprinting along the rooftops of Konoha, _'It should only take another 2 minutes for me to reach the gate, then I can –', _He was shook from his thoughts when an enormous chakra spike radiated around the area. _'What on earth was that?!' _He decided to trace the chakra back to where it had first come from. He looked down from his vantage point.

"Haha, take that demon!" One of the villagers screamed as they kicked him square in the chest, easily winding him. Naruto had stayed silent throughout the entire ordeal, deciding not to give them any satisfaction. He noticed they parted as a man came forward with an iron pipe in his hands, his eyes widened as he realized the man was going to use it on him. The man stepped forward with a smile on his face, and was about to bring the pipe down onto Naruto's legs when he felt something throw him back, his eyes widened as he coughed up blood, feeling his ribs shatter inside his chest, as he was flung back and into a wall, he looked up briefly to notice the entire group he was with had also been launched backwards, there were corpses everywhere, their arms and legs snapped in grotesque ways. He died a moment later.

Itachi, who had been watching the ordeal, was about to intervene when he saw the man raise the pipe above his head, when he suddenly felt himself being pushed backwards by an unknown force, he had recovered quickly and gone to down to street level to survey the carnage, he was shocked by what he saw;

A small crater laid in the centre of the street with Naruto lying in it, looking around dumbstruck by what had just happened. Itachi walked over to the boy. "Naruto-kun are you alri-?" Itachi was about to ask him if he was alright when he caught sight of the boy's eyes.

'_What is this?! This is impossible!' _He thought _'That ripple like pattern, I've heard stories about it from scrolls in the Library, I thought it was a myth?! They were supposedly possessed by the Rikudou Sennin, God of Shinobi! The Rinnegan! This boy, who exactly is he?!' _Itachi was shocked by this new discovery.

Naruto looked around, his vision was strange, he could see chakra, or at least that's what he thought it was, if he focused enough he could see behind him, he noticed there was someone standing in front of him and he held his hands up to defend himself. "Please don't hit me again!" He had finally cracked, seeing what he'd just done.

Itachi smiled at the boy. "Naruto-kun, I'm not going to hurt you, I have a feeling the people who you killed families might though" Itachi thought about what he was going to ask the boy next and wondered if it was ok. _'He's got the eyes of God, I'm sure they'll let him join, he's not welcome here in this village anyway, ignorant fools'. _ "I'm leaving the village, would you like to join me Naruto-kun?" Itachi asked.

To say the least, Naruto was shocked by what this man was asking him, he was also curious as to how he knew his name but that would come later, he thought about what the man offered. _'Leaving the village? I'm not exactly welcome here but still, what about Kakashi, Jii-san, Ero-Sennin and Sakura-chan, I don't want to leave them especially Sakura.'_

"Will I be able to come back and visit?" Naruto innocently asked. Itachi smiled at the boy "I'm sure in a few years time, you'll be back" He answered. "Can I bring someone else with me? She's my only friend, and she doesn't really like the villagers either, some people have bullied her before, can I go and ask?" Naruto didn't really understand what was going on.

Itachi thought about this. _'There'll be another member; this girl may prove useful over time. They asked me anyway, I'm sure they'll accept Naruto-kun and his friend.' _

Itachi looked Naruto dead in the eye, before telling he could go and ask her.

"Meet me at the North Gate in 10 minutes; if you aren't there, I'm leaving without you." Itachi said sternly, making Naruto nod his head furiously.

Itachi sped off to the North Gate, he decided while he was waiting he'd write some letters to the Hokage and Danzo respectively.

Naruto had already reached Sakura's house by the time Itachi had reached the North gate. He was currently standing underneath her window, throwing pebbles at her window.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, wake up!" He shouted. "Urgh, eh? Naruto? What do you want?" Sakura asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, before she could ask him again, he'd already jumped up through her window and landed behind her, "Eh?! Naruto, how did you do that?! We're not even ninjas" It was at this point she noticed his eyes.

"Naruto, what's wrong with your eyes?" She asked him. Naruto smiled.

"I don't know but ever since I was attacked earlier, I feel great, like I can do anything. I was out shopping when this group of guys attacked me, one of them was about to hit me with an iron pipe and suddenly they all launched backwards and then I could see chakra, at least I think that's what it is, although I think I killed those men, but they deserved it! I noticed some of them were the ones who'd attacked me before" He replied simply as if nothing was wrong.

Sakura was shocked, _'Naruto killed someone? This is very serious' _she thought.

"Sakura, I want you to leave the village with me" Naruto spoke in a serious tone that slightly frightened Sakura, "YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?!" Sakura shouted. "Shh, shh, listen to me please, I don't have much love for this village after what they've put me through, you, Kakashi, Jii-san and Ero-Sennin, are the only people important to me, without you by my side, I'd have most likely gone insane." He told her. She unconsciously blushed when he finished speaking, "Please make your decision, I have to be at the North gate in about 7 minutes" He said.

'_But what about my mother? Actually I'm quite sure she'd be able to take care of herself, leaving the village though? Can I really do that, maybe if I go with them I'll be able to become strong and come and visit my mother and Ino again, show her how strong I really am! Me and Naruto have become almost inseparable this past year, can I really live without him anymore?' _She thought, blushing wildly, realizing what she'd thought.

"Alright Naruto, I'll come with you, just let me write something down." Sakura told him. She wrote a quick letter telling her mother she loved her and mentioned Ino, telling her she'll be back to show how strong she's become.

"Alright! Let's go Sakura-chan" Naruto shouted, while jumping out the window with Sakura in his arms and began running towards the North Gate, she was laughing with him all the way.

**At the North Gate:**

Itachi was standing there, waiting for Naruto, he knew the boy would come, and his hopes were confirmed when Naruto came running around the corner with a pink haired girl in his arms. He skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Alright, let's go going." Naruto said. Sakura looked at the man, "Naruto, who is this?" She asked.

"Oh! Forgive me, my name is Uchiha Itachi, I'll explain to you my reasons for leaving the village as soon as I know we're safe, now follow me" He said before launching into the trees, Naruto following closely behind, easily keeping up with him.

'_Just what else can those eyes do?' _Itachi thought to himself as he remembered the directions of the map he'd been given, telling him how to reach Amegakure from Konoha.

**4 hours later:**

"Naruto, let's stop for a little bit, I think we're far enough away from Konoha to stop without needing a constant look out, I'd also like to ask you some questions, if that's ok?" Itachi asked.

Naruto stopped, looking down noticing Sakura had fallen asleep in his arms, he smiled at this, before helping Itachi find a clearing where they could rest for the night.

"What supplies did you bring?" Itachi asked him. Naruto looked up, and blushed with embarrassment. "Uh, supplies, I didn't bring anything" he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Itachi looked at him for a moment. "So be it, go and gather some firewood, I'll lay out my sleeping bag, so your friend can sleep comfortably."

"Oh, her name's Sakura, I'm sure she won't mind you calling her it." Naruto spoke before smiling, setting Sakura down on the ground and running off into the undergrowth.

Within five minutes, Naruto had returned with some reasonably sized branches that looked like he'd snapped them in half, and plenty of smaller twigs. Itachi was quite impressed by this. "Naruto, how did you know exactly what kind of things to collect?" He inquired.

"Oh, I went to the library and read a lot about Ninjas, I was going to enrol in the academy the day I turned 10, so I could prove to the villagers that I want to help them, not destroy them as they always seem to think" He replied sadly.

"I understand" Itachi replied. "Now I want to talk you both about something important, would you mind waking, uh, Sakura was it, up for me?"

Naruto complied and shook Sakura awake. Giving her a few moments to regain her bearings and rub the sleep out of her eyes, he continued.

"Naruto, do you feel any different since what happened in the street?" Itachi questioned. Naruto took a few moments before answering, "Yeah, I feel great, but my eyesight has become all strange and distorted, I think I can see chakra. It looks odd, inside your body I can see these strange lines, do you have any idea of what they are?" Naruto finished with a question.

"I have some idea of what you can see Naruto, do you see them randomly around the body or do they follow a set course? Such as up and down the arms, also on these paths, do you see small circles every so often?" Itachi asked.

Naruto looked at Itachi for a moment, before answering, "I see the lines go up and down your arms, there are also the small circles you mentioned, and it looks blue."

'_I thought so' _Itachi thought. "Naruto, you can see the Chakra pathways, the things that allow chakra to travel around the body, they are veins for chakra, to put it simply. The circles I mentioned are called Tenketsu; they can limit the amount of chakra that flows around the body and if manipulated by the correct application of force, can be closed off completely, blocking the flow of chakra. I also want you to take a look at this." Itachi said as he handed Naruto his forehead protector. "Look at your reflection."

Naruto did as he was told and almost collapsed. "What's happened to my eyes?!" He roared.

Itachi smirked before speaking, "It's called the Rinnegan Naruto, it's a legendary Doujutsu, said to be possessed by the man who discovered the true use of chakra and invented Ninjutsu, The Rikudou Sennin. I don't know anything about it apart from the thing we've just learnt, that you can see chakra. I'd also like to check something out when you've calmed down a bit more."

Naruto was currently staring at his reflection on the forehead protector; he gradually began to accept the way he looked, before moving the forehead protector closer to his eyes. '_Hey, they look pretty cool' _He thought to himself.

Sakura was sat there absorbing all the information Itachi had just told them, she took a closer look at Naruto's eyes now she'd woken up properly, _'Wow, they look amazing, I've never heard of anything like this before, his eyes have changed completely, the whites of his eyes are gone, I wonder what those circles are though' _She thought as she gazed into his, now silver coloured, eyes.

"Right, let me get this straight, I have a legendary Doujutsu, called the Rinnegan?" Itachi merely nodded, "It was said to be possessed by the man who invented Ninjutsu?" Itachi nodded once again, "Well, I've got to say, THAT'S AWESOME" Naruto shouted as he started laughing, Sakura started laughing as well. Itachi had a slight unnoticeable smile on his face.

"It's quite ironic really, a boy who was constantly beaten and ostracized for something that was out of his control, will likely become one of the strongest ninja of all time." Itachi stated matter-of-factly.

Naruto and Sakura stopped laughing after they heard what Itachi had just said, and just sat there for a few moments their mouths open wide, this caused Itachi to smirk and added, "Even if I reach my full potential, if you Naruto are to reach yours, I will not be able to defeat you, I doubt anyone in the world will be able to stand against you, however, don't think this will just fall in your lap, you will have to train for many years to achieve that level."

Naruto merely nodded before remembering what Itachi had said earlier, "What is it you wanted to check out, Itachi?" he asked.

"Oh yes, I just wanted to see if your new eyes could detect Barrier jutsu as that will be extremely effective if you are sent on Reconnaissance missions. Step back a few feet and let me use one, tell me if you noticed anything different." Itachi said.

Naruto nodded and stepped back.

"**Kekkai: Tengai Hōjin"** Itachi shouted after performing a few hand seals.

Naruto noticed it immediately, "I can see it, it's some sort of dome surrounding you."

Itachi was surprised, "I see, so you can see Barriers as well? That's interesting."

Naruto just smiled before sitting down again.

"Oh yea, Itachi, why were you leaving the village?" Naruto asked.

Both Sakura and Naruto noticed Itachi flinch at the question before he settled down on a log, and gave his answer.

"I wiped out the Uchiha clan" He replied simply.

Naruto and Sakura were shocked at this, thinking they'd have to force it out of him.

"They were planning a coup, and were attempting to take over Konoha, if they went ahead and did that, other countries would most likely get involved and attack Konoha without warning or repercussion. You haven't seen war, you don't know what it's like to see hundreds of people dead around you, it's terrifying. I did what I had to, to prevent a disaster." Itachi told them.

"I did however, leave my younger brother Sasuke alive, he will join the organization we're going to when he feels he is ready, he knows of the coup, it'll be up to him whether or not he accepts it, if he doesn't and decides to hunt me down, I'll kill him." He added before beginning to pack up his supplies and putting out the fire.

"Come, we have at least another day of travelling ahead of us, we've wasted enough time as it is." Itachi said as he slung his backpack over his shoulders.

They both nodded before standing up and dusting themselves down. Naruto walked over to Sakura and got down on one knee, inviting her to get onto his back, she accepted and within moments, the trio were off, shooting through the trees at an insane pace.

**The Next Morning, in Konoha:**

"Hokage-sama! Something terrible has happened" A Chuunin rushed into his office.

"Yes, I already know about the Uchiha massacre, I also know that he's taken Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura with him, leave me" Hiruzen replied without even turning toward the person who'd entered his office.

"Huh, so it's true then" A voice from outside the window called out.

"Yes, apparently the villagers decided to attack Naruto yesterday evening, Naruto killed them and joined Itachi. I don't know how Sakura got wrapped up in all this, but I presume it's because she's Naruto's best and only friend, I have a feeling she went with them willingly, besides Naruto isn't the kind of person to kidnap someone he's so close to." Hiruzen answered the voice.

Jiraiya then jumped up and landed on the windowsill, "He killed them you say? Was it the Kyuubi?" He asked Hiruzen.

Hiruzen shook his head, "No, they were killed by some kind of technique I've never seen before, it seemed like their organs were pushed back, the force must have been immense since all of their ribcages are shattered and there are several bodies with severally broken bones."

Jiraiya's ears perked up at this. "I see, would you mind if I had a look at the bodies? That description reminded me of something I've seen once before." Jiraiya asked.

Hiruzen merely nodded his head, before handing Jiraiya an access pass to the Hospital Morgue.

"I'll speak to you about it later." Jiraiya said before jumping out of the window and making his way towards the Hospital.

**Morgue:**

"This – this is exactly the same as before! The bruising on the chest, the organs scattered around the chest cavity like someone's taken them all out and put them back in however they please. Well, Uzumaki Naruto, you certainly are an interesting child, I look forward to our next meeting." Jiraiya said to himself as he walked out of the Hospital, heading towards the Hokage tower to report his findings.

**Hospital:**

Meanwhile in a private room, Uchiha Sasuke was lying in his bed thinking about his brother had said; '_They were planning a coup? Why would they do something like that? We were the strongest clan in Konoha! Now that I think about it, Father had been acting rather distant lately, and Itachi was acting strange as well...Itachi, he theoretically saved my life, I need to think about this more'. _He sighed before lying down and dozing off.

**Near Amegakure:**

"Ok, we're nearly there" Itachi spoke; he could barely be heard over the sound of the pouring rain.

"The sooner we get there, the better" Naruto grumbled, making Sakura laugh.

**Amegakure:**

"Eh?!" A voice shouted out.

"What is it?" A gentle female voice asked.

"There are 3 Intruders, one of them is Itachi, another is nothing to worry about, but the last, their chakra is almost double mine!" The voice replied.

"What?! How is that possible?" The female voice asked worriedly.

"I don't know, Konan, go and meet Itachi, it seems they all entered the village at the same time, so once you find him, I'm sure you'll encounter the other two." The voice told her.

"Hai, Nagato". Konan replied.

"Be careful" He warned as she was making her way out.

She merely nodded.

**Entrance to Amegakure:**

"Halt! What is your business here?" The Gate guard questioned.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi, these people next to me are my travelling companions, we seek entry into your village, our reasons are our own." Itachi replied.

"You will state your reasons for being here, or you will be treated as an intru-" The Gate guard had already raised a Kunai to defend himself.

"Stand down, Masuyo, leave them to me" A woman had appeared behind him.

"A – Ah, Konan-sama, I will do as you say! Forgive me!" He bowed his head quickly before returning back to his post.

"My name is Konan, I am an emissary for the leader of this village, state your business." Konan told them firmly.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi, your leader is expecting me, these two people here are my travelling companions, and I request they be allowed in as well." Itachi told her.

Konan knew of Itachi's arrival, she just had to confirm it was him. She glanced down at the two children at his side. She cast her eyes to Sakura, who gave her a quick smile; she had to stop herself from smiling back. She then took a glance at the other boy; he had his head turned around as he was looking around the village. She could feel power radiating off him; she cleared her throat to gain his attention. He turned towards her and she froze on the spot.

'_What!? This cannot be, he's got the same eyes as Nagato! I see, this is the chakra he was talking about, he'll be a worthy addition to Akatsuki, perhaps even stronger than Nagato.'_ She thought to herself.

He grinned at her and said "Hey, my name's Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you!"

She suddenly felt a faint smile tug at her lips, before she pushed it to the back of her mind and dropped back into her serious demeanour.

"Hai, now come with me, I'm sure our leader will want to meet and greet you all personally." She stated.

She nodded to Masuyo, and he responded, allowing the three of them passage and recording their names within the journal on the desk in front of him.

They walked through the gates into the city of Amegakure itself. All three of them were taken aback by how the city looked, although only two of them showed a surprised looked upon their faces. Itachi remained stoic as ever.

"Whoa, this place is amazing" Naruto spoke, voice filled with awe as he glanced upwards, his sight filled with towering skyscrapers.

Sakura could only nod, too taken aback seeing a city like this.

It was at this time; Naruto had cast his gaze upon Konan, and noticed what she was wearing.

"Hey, Konan-san, I like your cloak" He said. She just carried on walking; none of them could see the faint smile on her face.

They continued on through the city, with Naruto making stupid remarks almost constantly throughout the short journey.

They soon reached the entrance to the highest tower in the city and Konan stopped abruptly in front of it.

She turned and spoke to them: "We're here, through this door lies your future, are you willing to proceed?"

She was surprised by how quickly all three of them responded. Satisfied with the three nods, she gathered some chakra into her hand, and placed it across the barrier in front of the door. Once the barrier had finished dispersing, the doors opened themselves and they all stepped inside.

They walked into a strange foyer, noticing there was no-one there, they passed through it and walked up the stairway on the other side. Reaching the top of the stairs, they stepped out onto a balcony, noticing a figure standing in front of them, leaning over the balcony railing, observing the village.

"Greetings Itachi, I see you've decided to join us after all." The man spoke. Itachi replied with a swift "Hai".

"But it seems you've brought along some stragglers." He said.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted out, only for Itachi to grab his shoulder, turning him around to face him and shaking his head, Naruto soon quietened down.

"They will become strong and valuable members; that I can assure you." Itachi replied.

"Yes, I can sense that boy's chakra; it's stronger than any I've ever felt before, even my own. The girl's, while not as strong, is still fairly potent." He continued whilst still looking out across the village. "But have you ever felt pain before? Do you know what it's like to feel like the whole world is against you, having everything you've ever loved brutally torn away from you, in front of your very eyes?" He asked. This time he turned around. "Do you know what it's like t-". He stopped dead as he opened his eyes and caught sight of Naruto.

"...What? This cannot be." He spoke quietly.

"Hey, your eyes look like mine!" Naruto shouted.

'_This boy, his eyes are the same as mine, yet he possesses almost twice my chakra, this is impossible, yet I'm staring right at him.' _Nagato thought to himself.

"What are your names?" He asked them.

"Uzumaki Naruto." "Haruno Sakura." They each replied.

"I see." He thought about what he was about to say for a moment, "Very well, Konan, take them to an empty room, I shall be along once I've conversed with Itachi." He said.

Konan merely nodded while gesturing for Naruto and Sakura to follow her.

As they walked out of the room, Pain turned back towards the village.

"I see now why you brought them with you, that boy has the Rinnegan, it was a wise move." He spoke.

Itachi nodded once before speaking. "You should know something else; he's the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." This caused Pain to freeze before turning to Itachi, gesturing for him to continue, "But as I'm sure you've noticed his chakra pathways haven't adapted to the Kyuubi's chakra, it seems to me, that the Rinnegan has suppressed it's influence. You could theoretically remove the Kyuubi from him, without killing him in the process as his body doesn't rely on it." Itachi continued. "As for pain, he was beaten daily in Konoha, his apartment needlessly vandalized, there were a select few who appreciated him, I'm sure you know of them. It was Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hatake Kakashi and Jiraiya. The rest of the village is most likely celebrating his departure." Itachi finished.

"I...see" Pain replied. "He will be a fine ninja, I will have to oversee his training here though, the Rinnegan will crush him if he's not prepared for it. I shall introduce him and yourself to the rest of the members tomorrow; I have a plan that will require all of you." He stopped, seemingly thinking. He turned back to face Itachi before continuing, "What of the girl?"

Itachi didn't take long before answering, "She is Naruto's closest, if not, only friend. He asked me if she could come, I agreed. She seems very intelligent; I suspect in the future, they will become a force to be reckoned with."

"Very well, I will have Konan teach her, she shall become a medic Nin, what else Konan teaches her will be her decision." Pain said.

"Now, I'm sure you'd like to get some rest from your journey, Konoha will never think to look here, so you're safe for the time being." Pain spoke, Itachi merely nodded before following him out of the room; they soon reached a door. "You can stay in here for now." He said, before walking off, leaving Itachi outside the room.

Naruto and Sakura were each sitting on their new beds, with Konan standing by the door, watching them. The door opened and Pain stepped through. He glanced at Konan, before stepping in the room fully, and speaking to Naruto. "Naruto, I would like to speak to you about something, it's important, would you like this girl to stay or leave?" He asked.

"She can stay" Naruto answered firmly.

"So be it. I'm going to tell you about those eyes of yours, as Itachi has most likely already told you, they are called the Rinnegan, and were possessed by the so-called God of Shinobi, The Rikudou Sennin." Naruto merely nodded, before Pain continued. "What he most likely didn't tell you are the benefits of having such eyes; first, you possess all six of the Chakra elements, allowing you to perform almost any technique you wish. Second, they provide you with a huge amount of chakra just by awakening them; I won't ask what happened to cause this. However, it seems you had a huge amount of chakra to begin with, so your levels are now the highest I have ever seen." Naruto sat there in silence, taking it all in. "There's something I want to ask you; before you awakened the Rinnegan, did you have any other episodes? Fits of rage where you'd black out and wake up, not being able to remember what had happened?."

Naruto shook his head; "No, this is the first time it's ever happened."

'_I see, Itachi was right, there's no trace of the Kyuubi's chakra at all, even on his stomach, where the seal of Jinchuuriki usually is. We may be able to take remove it from him without killing him. It'd be a tremendous waste if he were to die.' _Nagato thought.

"I also know you're the container of the Kyuubi." This caused both Naruto and Sakura to visibly flinch. "However, we may be able to remove it from you, normally this would kill you, but it seems like the Rinnegan has suppressed it's influence from birth, therefore your body has not become accustomed to it's chakra, so it's just sitting there inside you. Almost separate from you." Pain finished.

Naruto looked at Sakura, before she nodded slightly, he nodded in return before turning to Pain, "I'd like to risk it, I just want to be seen as me." He said.

"I understand, tomorrow I will introduce you two to the rest of Akatsuki and we shall begin the sealing from there." He then turned to Sakura, "You will be training with Konan here" He said as he gestured to Konan, "in the art of medical ninjutsu, when you two are inaugurated into the organization, you shall be partners, performing assignments and various other tasks I will ask of you."

They both nodded, before Naruto could open his mouth, Pain had already begun answering his question. "Your training Naruto, will consist of me teaching you the various techniques of the Rinnegan, however, I will only teach them to you once I see you can handle them. I'll have the rest of Akatsuki teach you as many elemental techniques as possible, we'll also discuss Taijutsu but all of this will come later. For now, I'm sure you'd like to rest. Come Konan."

Naruto merely nodded before Pain and Konan left the room, leaving him and Sakura alone, Naruto turned to Sakura before saying:

"Well, that was some birthday."

**END.**

**Another quick A/N:** Thank you for reading this first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, if not, well okay.

I know some of the characters are OOC at points, but meh. I really enjoyed writing it.

The next chapter will probably be out in the next few days, if I can be bothered to drag myself off Mass Effect 2.

And yes, I know the Kyuubi thing is cheap, but I just wanted to get it out of the way early on. Sorry and thanks once again!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I'm hoping this chapter will about 10 – 15k words, there will be a lot of time skips during this chapter so it may seem Naruto gets stronger quickly, but each time they stop an important plot element will come into play. I just wanted to show Naruto interacting with various members of Akatsuki, since they are so interesting and fun to write. There will be action in this chapter, so that's something to look forward to!

Naruto and Sakura will seem surprisingly mature throughout this chapter, but please don't forget they've been trained by professional killers since the age of 9, so they've been forced to grow up faster than most. Of course their normal personalities will be there, just not during battle or an important personal moment.

Kisame will be slightly nicer than normal, and a lot more fun than he usually is, Naruto and Sakura only act normal around him while they're still being trained, once they are properly introduced into Akatsuki, they'll act their normal selves in front of everyone else.

Orochimaru will also be OOC in some people's eyes, however I noticed when he was training Sasuke, he often praised him, so that's what he'll be doing with Naruto, although that'll only happen once or twice.

Sakura's medical training will not be written since I don't know how to describe it. Especially the more advanced stuff. Also Soba is a kind of noodle.

I tried looking for the country Amegakure is in, but I couldn't find a name, so I'm just going to call it "Ame no Kuni". If anyone does know the proper name, please let me know.

Yeah, the Akatsuki statue goes Kyuubi, then the rest of the Bijuus, get over it. Naruto and Kyuubi extraction will not be dwelled upon apart from the first few paragraphs, I wanted to get out of the way, if you don't like it, I don't care. Sure, Minato may have been a master sealer or something, but I wanted it to happen, there are more important things I want to focus on anyway. Hope that doesn't bother anyone, if it does, don't read the story.

Just to clear something up, when it says "Nagato thought" I mean his actual body, when it says "Pain said" that means it's one of his Paths talking, most likely Deva unless I explain otherwise. One other thing, Naruto's Rinnegan is constantly activated, I've no idea if they can deactivate it in canon, but they can't here.

I'll take suggestions, but if anyone demands I change it because it's a "stupid idea", then I'll just tell them no. It's my story; it has ALTERNATE UNIVERSE in the summary for a reason. Don't like the idea, don't bother reading.

Thanks for such nice reviews guys, I appreciate it!

I'm also in need of a Beta Reader, so just send me a message on here if you want to try it.

Now, on with the story, and sorry for such a long A/N. ROFLOLMAO

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't know own Naruto.

**Chapter 2:**

Naruto was currently sitting in a meditative position in the centre of an enormous statue, 2 giant hands to the left and right of him, behind him a face with an unsettling expression, one of extreme pain, with a blindfold covering its eyes. There were 9 eye holes on it he noticed, all of them shut. As the essence of the Kyuubi was pulled from his stomach, he felt a bit strange, surprisingly, there was no pain, he was slowly becoming tired however. He thought about his introduction to the group earlier in that day.

_Flashback_

Naruto and Sakura were woken up by a swift knocking on their door, 5 minutes later, they emerged to see Pain, Konan and Itachi waiting for them, Naruto noticed Itachi was already wearing an Akatsuki cloak.

"Hey, when do I get one of those cloaks?" Naruto asked.

"When I deem you strong enough." Pain replied simply, "Now follow us, we're going to introduce you to the rest of the organization."

Naruto and Sakura merely nodded before following the others down a staircase. They all stopped in front of a door before Pain pushed it open and entered. Naruto noticed 5 figures in front of them, seemingly involved in light conversation with each other, as they stepped forward; they stopped their conversations and turned to look at them.

"We have one new member and two other promising recruits." Pain announced to the gathered individuals. "Itachi, you will be partnered with Kisame". Itachi and Kisame merely nodded.

"These two here are Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura. Naruto is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, we're going to extract it shortly, we believe that because he possesses the same eyes as me, the Rinnegan, the Kyuubi has been suppressed, thus we can extract it from his body without killing him. After that has been performed, I want you all to train him in various elemental techniques; I will be training him in the use of the Rinnegan's abilities." They all nodded before he continued on. "This young girl here will be trained by Konan, in the use of medical ninjutsu, I'm sure they will both prove to be valuable allies." Pain finished speaking.

Naruto, who was feeling rather uncomfortable merely stepped forward and bowed, causing Kisame to laugh out loud, "Haha, you don't have to be so formal kid," This comment caused Naruto to look up, grin and rub the back of his head sheepishly.

Kisame grinned before introducing himself, "I'm Hoshigaki Kisame, this sinister looking fellow to my right is Orochimaru," Orochimaru remained impassive towards Naruto, instead keeping his eyes focused on Itachi _'Uchiha Itachi, this is a perfect opportunity, I'd consider using Naruto-kun here for my next body, but if his eyes can suppress the Kyuubi, I stand no chance.'_ Orochimaru thought, ending with a grim expression on his face.

"Err, anyway, the guy standing next to him is Sasori, he's Orochimaru's partner, apparently they make a good team, but I've yet to see it." Kisame joked, earning a snort from Sasori and a glare from Orochimaru.

Kisame chuckled before continuing with his self-imposed introduction.

"This man here," he pointed to Kakuzu "his name is Kakuzu, you'd do well not to get on his bad side, or he'll most likely kill you, on the bright side though, he's probably the one who can teach you the most about the elements. There's one more of us, but I think he's out on an assignment at the moment, I'm sure you'll recognize him when you see him, his name is Zetsu." Kisame finished.

Naruto and Sakura merely bowed once more, before Pain caught everyone's attention with a single hand seal. The genjustu surrounding the room was suddenly dispelled, revealing a large cavern, a grotesque statue in the centre of it; a blindfolded face and upper torso were coming out of the ground, an expression of pain across the face, whilst two hands sprouted on the sides, chains linking the wrists together.

Naruto and Sakura gasped at the sight of it, before Pain spoke up, "Naruto, we're going to seal the Kyuubi now, if you would like to go and sit in the centre of that circle there," He pointed to a small circle on the floor, Naruto nodded and went to sit down, Pain turned to Konan, "Take Sakura back upstairs and show her some basic chakra control exercises, give her some books to study also, then rejoin us down here." Konan nodded before beckoning Sakura to follow her, Sakura hesitated for a moment, casting a glance at Naruto, he noticed this and grinned at her, she smiled back and followed Konan upstairs.

The rest of the group shunshinned up onto their designated fingers, "Let's begin the sealing" Pain told them, each of them forming the Ram seal.

Naruto suddenly felt very odd.

_Flashback End._

Naruto decided to give in to unconsciousness, leaving him lying on the ground with the red chakra flowing out of him.

**3 Days Later:**

"Konan, check him" Pain ordered. Konan shunshinned down from her finger, and landed next to Naruto.

Pressing her index and middle fingers against her neck, she looked up to Pain and nodded before saying "It worked; he's still alive, although he'll most likely need a lot of rest."

'_How the hell is he still alive?! This is the work of the Shinigami and a seal of a Master; could it be because of some imperfection that allowed him to survive? We took a gamble and it somehow paid off, I can't believe it.' _Nagato thought, before regaining his composure.

"So be it." Pain said before shunshinning down next to Naruto, "Kisame, get down here and take Naruto to his room."

"Eh? What?" Kisame was startled by this sudden order, however judging by the look in his Leader's eyes, he was going to have to do it.

Shunshinning down next to the boy, he picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.

Sakura was currently sitting down on her bed, concentrating chakra to different parts of her body like Konan had showed her. She'd read 1 of the 4 books Konan had given her and was halfway through the next.

The door suddenly burst open, knocking her out of her meditative state, she saw Kisame place Naruto down on his bed, before glancing over at her, and giving her a quick smile, albeit it looked quite sinister, before walking out and closing the door behind him.

She rushed over to Naruto's bedside and checked his pulse; she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she realized he was still alive. She decided to make him as comfortable as possible; she stripped him down to his boxers, not even registering his now half-naked body, before she pulled the covers over him, and went back to her chakra control exercises.

Later on, when she was lying in her bed, she suddenly realized what she'd done and blushed furiously.

**2 Days Later:**

"Ughh" Naruto groaned as he slowly opened his eyes "Where am I? Oh that's right, The Kyuubi..." He said.

Sakura who was had since advanced to a slightly more advanced chakra control exercise, focusing a small amount in each finger, had heard Naruto groan and automatically ran over to see if he was ok, she was happy to see his eyes already open and looking at her.

He smiled as she came over to his bedside, "Uh, Sakura-chan? Does this mean I'm in heaven?" He laughed once he noticed the slight blush that crossed her face; he stopped as soon as she punched him on the arm however, reasonably hard.

"Idiot. You've been unconscious for 6 days, and the first thing you can say is something like that?" She asked, a faint but noticeable smile playing across her lips, "Anyway, how do you feel?" She asked him worriedly, any trace of humour that was in her voice was now gone.

"I feel fine, although I might have to lay here for a little while, while I get used to being to feel my arms and legs again." He joked.

"Naruto." She replied seriously, "Are you really feeling okay? I was worried about you." She said honestly.

He looked at her for a moment before a serious look crossed his face.

"I really am feeling okay, have you been looking after me while I was out?" He asked. She merely nodded while looking down.

He reached to take her hand; she noticed this but didn't stop him or flinch away, before anything could happen however the door suddenly flew open, causing Naruto to retract his hand so quickly, Sakura didn't even notice.

"GOOD MORNING CHILDREN!" Kisame shouted, not even bothering to knock or even open the door properly, he had in fact kicked the door so hard, it was barely hanging onto its hinges.

Sakura just glared at him, he noticed this and smiled a toothy grin back at her, this always seemed to wipe any expression of her face he noted, most likely because of his jagged teeth.

"Leader-sama wants to see you both, get dressed and be upstairs in 5 minutes" He said before leaving almost as quickly as he'd burst in the room. They barely had time to nod in acknowledgement.

5 minutes later, they were both dressed, each of them had been given new clothes, as their casual clothes would just wear away with training, or so they were told.

Naruto was given a mesh shirt to wear underneath a black jacket; the interior of the jacket was a bold red, much like the colour of their uniforms, minus the clouds. He also wore standard jounin trousers and ninja sandals.

Sakura was now wearing cycling shorts that were knee length, along with a dark grey top that stopped just below her thighs. She also had basic ninja sandals.

They walked upstairs into a meeting area of sorts, only to see that Kakuzu, Sasori and Orochimaru were nowhere to be seen.

Pain was the first one to sense their presence and turned around to greet them. "Ah, Naruto, I trust you're feeling better?" He asked.

Naruto simply nodded, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to himself.

"Good. We shall begin your training then. Come with me." Pain said, before swiftly turning towards the door and walking out. Naruto gave Sakura a quick smile, which she returned, before running off to catch up with Pain.

"Ah, Konan-san! I spent the last 3 days practicing my chakra control; I can now do as much as focus a small amount into the tips of my fingers". She said.

Konan nodded before escorting Sakura out of the room into a small training area that they'd claimed as their own.

Itachi, who was standing at the back of the room, had been observing Sakura's training. He had already mentally noted that her chakra control was already nearly perfect; he decided he would teach her some Genjutsu when he saw she was ready.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Pain had entered a huge library just off the side of the meeting room, "We're going to start on chakra control first, and I'll be teaching you the **Bunshin**, **Kage Bunshin**, **Henge** and **Kawarimi No Jutsu** first, after you've completed those, I would like to talk to you about your Rinnegan." Pain said. "It doesn't matter how long it takes, from 1 week to a year, I won't give you a moment to rest unless I see that you deserve it." He continued. Naruto nodded. "Now let's begin."

**6 Months Later:**

In the last 6 months, both Naruto and Sakura's chakra control had exceeded all expectations. Sakura's however was slightly better, which Pain didn't hesitate to use as an excuse to rile Naruto up so he'd train harder.

Naruto had mastered **Kage Bunshin**, **Henge **and **Kawarimi**, he couldn't perform **Bunshin **however, Pain put it down to having simply too much chakra. He said the Forbidden version was superior to it anyway.

"Naruto. Stop for the moment and come over here." Pain called out to him, they were currently outside while Naruto sat with 100 Kage Bunshins, each practicing chakra control. Pain had stated that he didn't need to work on **Henge** and **Kawarimi**, saying they'd be mastered to a level not many people can reach. **Kage Bunshin**, he'd explained that it would help speed up his training hugely, since every clone, when dispelled, will transmit everything it's learned back to the creator.

Naruto stood up and walked over to where Pain was standing. "I want to show you a technique, Itachi was describing to me what happened the night he found you. He said he felt himself being forced back, what did you feel and see?" Pain asked. Naruto thought about it for a moment before answering, "I don't know, I can't really remember, I felt like I was falling for a split second before I hit the ground and then everything around suddenly launched backwards."

Pain nodded. "Yes, that sounds familiar, like the first time I awoke my Rinnegan. I have named the technique you used." Naruto looked on excitedly. "It's called **Shinra Tensei**, it's something only users of the Rinnegan can use, even the Sharingan cannot copy this technique. You can focus it into your hands and apply much more force to the technique, using it like this can easily shatter wood, bone and stone. It can also used on a much larger scale, you should never use that unless completely necessary, as it will shorten your lifespan." Naruto nodded, taking it all in. "There's one other drawback to the technique, once you've used it, it can't be used again for the next 5 seconds. I will demonstrate it now. Step back." Naruto did as he told and watched as Pain moved to stand in front of the closest building; he held out his arm and spoke "**Shinra Tensei**". Naruto's eyes widened as he watched a large hole appear in the side of building accompanied by a thunderous bang.

"Now you try it. Just hold out your arm, focus chakra to your eyes and the palm of your hand and release when you think it's strong enough, the more chakra you focus onto your palm, the stronger the technique will be. There's another thing I'd like to mention, you don't have to be looking at the target, just focus chakra to your eyes and palm and think about forcing something away." Pain explained.

Naruto nodded, before moving in front of the building. "You don't have to call out the name." Pain added. Naruto merely nodded once again. He stared forward at the wall, held out his arm focusing just enough chakra; he released the technique only for another hole to appear in the wall.

Pain looked on, impressed. The hole itself was only a bit smaller than the one he himself had made.

"Good, now you can't use **Kage Bunshin** to practice this technique so I suggest you forgo perfecting your chakra control, it's easily already low-Jounin level, so just focus on **Shinra Tensei**, until I see fit that you've advanced enough to move onto the next stage of your training." Pain said, getting a nod from Naruto before he shunshinned out of the area.

As soon as Pain had left, Naruto burst out into a wide grin and said to himself, "Sakura's going to love this."

**6 Months Later:**

Naruto and Sakura had been training together for the past six months with Naruto constantly practicing **Shinra Tensei**, he'd almost perfected it according to Pain, however he wouldn't let him try the larger version.

Naruto and Sakura had been getting a lot closer during their training sessions together. Naruto had discovered that she was only bullied so much because of her large forehead. He told he thought it looked great, she blushed at his un-intended compliment. He reminded her about his birthday and apologised for missing hers, she said it was fine and they were both extremely busy. He suggested they go and take a look around Amegakure, especially if they were going to be living there from now on.

And that's where they were now, strolling around the upper levels, Naruto liked it here, although people kept to themselves, if he smiled at them they would smile back, he wouldn't hear abusive comments and they didn't throw things at him. Sakura liked it here simply for the fact that people accepted Naruto. They decided to go and grab something to eat. Naruto hadn't left the Akatsuki complex in almost a year, so he still had plenty of money to spend.

Neither of them had had Ramen for quite some time, neither of their teachers allowing such a food in their training regimen. Sakura had advanced, not quite as much as Naruto, but Konan had taught her some basic medical ninjutsu, she could now heal shallow cuts and faint bruises. Konan had mentioned that she has unprecedented potential in the medical field as her chakra control was fantastic. This made Sakura ecstatic, and Naruto was incredibly happy for her. They soon found a quaint little restaurant and sat down in it. The waiter soon came over and took their orders.

They sat there, eating their meal in a comfortable silence, before Naruto blurted out, "I'm really happy we came here", Sakura raised her head and smiled at him, before replying "Me too", "Although the circumstances could have been better" He finished, jokingly. Sakura laughed at this, before resuming her meal. They finished and Sakura stepped outside while Naruto paid.

They began to walk down the street; Naruto noticed the thoughtful look on Sakura's face and instantly guessed what trouble her. "Are you thinking about Konoha?" He asked her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering how he'd guessed what she was thinking.

"Yeah, I was just wondering how everyone's doing, Ino, my Mom, that Ami girl, I hope she feels terrible now that I'm gone." She said, Naruto smiled at what she had said. "Well, I'm sure they're all fine, maybe when we're finished with our basic training we can go and see them again, eh?" He replied.

She smiled at this, and then thought about something she should have done a long time ago. She grinned before giving him a kiss on the cheek and running off shouting "Happy Birthday!" He was left there, speechless, with a hand on his cheek.

Later on that evening, Sakura had remembered she had to share a room with Naruto; she slowly crept in through the door, and turned on the lamp next to her bed and was happy to see him sprawled out across his bed, his right leg hanging out of the covers, and a small pool of drool near his mouth. She had to stifle a giggle at this, before turning the lamp off and climbing into her own bed.

When she awoke the next morning, she found Naruto's bed empty, it didn't surprise her.

Naruto had, surprisingly, been woken by Konan earlier, she waited outside the door for him to get dressed, he appeared about 2 minutes later and followed her down into the main meeting room.

Naruto walked into the room and noticed Pain, the chakra signature next to him however, he recognized, but just couldn't put a name to it.

"Naruto, come here." Pain beckoned him over. "You've been introduced to Orochimaru once before, I'm going to have him teach you various Earth and Wind element techniques." He said, Naruto just nodded.

"Well, Naruto-kun shall we begin?" Orochimaru asked him, a smirk placed on his lips. Naruto looked at him for a moment, before breaking out into a grin and saying "Yea!"

Naruto followed Orochimaru, outside into one of the various training grounds behind the complex. It was raining quite heavily as they stood in the centre of the training ground.

"Ok, Naruto-kun, the first Jutsu I'm going to teach will be **"Fūton: Daitoppa"**, the hand seals are Tiger – Ox – Dog – Rabbit – Snake, would you like to try it?" Orochimaru explained.

Naruto merely nodded, before flying through the hand seals, surprising Orochimaru at his speed, before shouting "**Fūton: Daitoppa"** and producing a huge blast of wind, carving a crater into the ground and slamming into the wall, causing a large crack to appear down it.

"That was very impressive, Naruto-kun, you might need to tone down the amount of chakra you put into the Jutsu however." Orochimaru told him.

Naruto looked at him, confused, "But I didn't put much chakra into that attack at all."

Orochimaru was, to say the least, shocked. '_This boy, who on earth is he?!'_ He thought to himself. "Well, Naruto-kun, I'd like you to perfect that jutsu over the next few days, I shall then return and show you a defensive ninjutsu." Orochimaru then performed the Ram seal before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

'_Fancy idiot'_ Naruto thought. _'I may as well see what the technique is like when I imbue it with even more chakra.'_

A thunderous bang was heard, and Kisame being the only member in the complex quickly ran outside to see what it was. He wasn't that surprised to find an enormous crater with Naruto lying at the bottom, the training ground completely destroyed.

"Oi, Naruto!" Kisame shouted, Naruto merely shifted his eyes towards him, "Maybe you shouldn't use that technique much eh?" Naruto merely laughed, before standing up and climbing out of the crater. "I don't think there's much else I can do with that technique anymore, I'll just go and practice my chakra control" He told Kisame, before calmly walking back inside like nothing had happened.

Kisame turned to look at the crater before shrugging his shoulders and following Naruto inside.

When Orochimaru returned, he had been informed of what had happened after he left, and figured he wouldn't berate Naruto for not practicing the technique, considering the amount of damage it had done.

He found Naruto sitting on his bed, in a meditative position, so he decided to observe him for a little bit. He was radiating chakra, Orochimaru was fascinated.

Naruto felt the presence as soon as they had entered the room, he didn't know who it was as they were masking their chakra, and he knew they must be incredibly skilled if they can hide their chakra, even in front of his eyes. He decided not to wait to find out who it was, his eyes snapped open with his hand already held up, he called out "**Shinra Tensei**", only to hear a shout of "Shit!" and a loud crash. He looked around the room, noticing the large hole that was now in his wall. He looked to his right and saw who it had been. Orochimaru was standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Bravo, Naruto-kun, you've changed considerably over the course of this year, when you were first introduced to us, your guard was constantly down, and any one of us could have killed you in a second." He said, Naruto wasn't surprised at this at all. "But now you've started to train those eyes of yours, you're slowly becoming a worthy adversary. I look forward to the day you are officially introduced into Akatsuki." Orochimaru finished. Naruto just grinned.

"Your defence is already quite formidable, especially with that Shinra Tensei attack; you could most likely push away plenty of the larger Jutsus; however some of them won't be that simple, so I'm going to teach you a Jutsu that requires considerable chakra control, which I know you have. Come." Orochimaru stated as he walked out the door, Naruto followed him, sighing at the hole in his wall, knowing he was going to be tasked with fixing it up later. Sakura would demand he do it without the help of any of his Jutsus as well.

They were in a different training ground this time, after Pain had made Kakuzu fill in the hole with an Earth jutsu. Naruto had stayed clear of Kakuzu ever since he'd found out.

"Ok, Naruto-kun, this is an Earth element defence ninjutsu, it's an incredibly versatile jutsu, I will show you an example, it's called "**Doton: Doryūkatsu".** Orochimaru explained.

He ran through the seals incredibly quickly, much faster than Naruto had expected and slammed his hand into the ground, holding it there; Naruto noticed his fingers moving slightly. His mind was taken off this when a large clump of earth began rising up, before splitting in half and then into quarters, before Orochimaru released his hand from the ground and admired his handiwork.

Orochimaru smirked at Naruto's odd expression before explaining, "There are things called Dragon veins flowing underground, and you can manipulate them using that Jutsu, you pour your chakra into them, then utilising perfect chakra control, you can create chasms of any size, the formation of the ground is completely up to you. The seals are Rabbit – Boar – Rat – Horse – Tiger – Snake. Now show me."

Naruto performed the hand seals and called out **"Doton: Doryūkatsu"**, before slamming his hand on the ground, he channelled chakra into the veins, he was surprised he could feel them, _'It must have something to do with the Jutsu'_ He thought.

He suddenly lost control and the Jutsu failed, resulting in a large earthen pillar to rise out of the ground. He immediately cancelled the Jutsu and sighed. "Wow, you can't lose concentration or something like that happens eh?" He said, more to himself than Orochimaru.

Orochimaru just smirked, "Yes, you have to be careful, it's best used while you're in a group and need to defend more than one person at once, it can also be used to separate enemy teams apart and destroy their camps before you attack." Orochimaru explained. "I'll be back in a week and a half; I want you to have made some noticeable progress when I return." He then left.

Throughout the next week and a half, the training ground where Naruto had been training had to be remodelled several times, thanks to Naruto either losing control or funnelling too much chakra into the Jutsu.

The day Orochimaru returned, Naruto had prepared a question to ask him. "Hey Orochimaru," he turned towards the boy, who took it as a signal to continue, "Where do you keep going?" Orochimaru merely cracked a smile that sent a chill down Naruto's spine. "I've been busy." He said simply, clearly not in the mood for explaining.

'_Kukuku, soon my Kinjutsu will be ready and I'll have access to almost every jutsu in the world, I haven't seen Itachi in a while, but next time we meet, I'm sure it will be memorable.' _Orochimaru thought.

"Now Naruto-kun, I have a test for you, I'm going to summon 2 snakes, I want you to use the 2 Jutsu I have taught you and **Kage Bunshin** to force them to dismiss themselves." Orochimaru said, lifting up the sleeve on his left arm, before nipping his thumb and smearing the blood across the strange tattoo that covered his forearm.

"**Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"** He spoke, causing 2 snakes slightly larger than himself to puff into existence next to him.

"Kill him". He said simply, before shunshinning backwards to observe the battle.

Naruto formed the familiar hand seal and created 4 **Kage Bunshins**. He made 2 of them charge the snakes, while he had the last one cover him, in case one of the snakes got through. He quickly shot through some more hand seals before shouting "**Doton: Doryūkatsu**" and causing a large bank to appear but a few meters away from the snakes, they didn't notice however as they were engaging his first two **Kage Bunshins**.

The snakes were too busy fending off kunai strikes to notice the real Naruto jump onto the top of the bank, he launched into the air from the top of the bank, formed some hand seals and shouted "**Fūton: Daitoppa!**", the huge burst of air destroyed the **Kage Bunshins** and forced the snakes to the ground, shallow cuts could be seen all over their skin. As soon as Naruto landed, he pulled out two kunai and sprinted towards the snakes, ready to kill them.

Orochimaru decided enough was enough, so he manually dispelled the snakes.

'_This boy is far stronger than I give him credit for, his training with Leader-sama must have beaten some tactics into him, it's a shame I won't be able to take his body, he'd make a fine replacement. Kukuku, Itachi's will suit me fine however.' _Orochimaru thought.

Naruto walked over to Orochimaru, who congratulated him on his clever usage of **Kage Bunshin** to distract the enemy while he focused on the main offense. He handed him 2 scrolls before telling him, "We won't meet each other again, Naruto- kun, goodbye." He performed the Ram seal and disappeared in same way he had when they'd first met.

'_What was that all about? Oh well, I'd better check out these scrolls.'_ Naruto thought to himself before he unfurled the first one and read the name of the Jutsu.

**Scroll:**

**Fūton: Shinkūgyoku.**

**This jutsu is ranked A-Class.**

**This is a short to mid range jutsu.**

**To perform, form the Dog seal, before taking a deep breath and exhale, you should feel the balls of chakra form inside your mouth; exhale them rapidly for the best results. The amount of chakra you put into each ball will affect how much physical damage they do.**

**A small amount of chakra will merely hit the target, most likely bruise them but do nothing more. **

**A large amount however can penetrate the skin like a thrown kunai, therefore proving fatal if aimed at the right areas.**

**End Scroll.**

'_Heh, this sounds like a promising Jutsu, it looks a bit troublesome to use though, the exhaling part sounds like it will take some getting used to. I'll keep that one for later. I'll check the other scroll.' _Naruto thought.

He rolled the first scroll back up and placed into a side pocket of his jacket. He carefully untied the small string keeping the next scroll rolled up, before it fully unfurled in his lap. He picked it up and began to read:

**Scroll:**

**Fūton: Shinkūha.**

**This jutsu is ranked A-Class.**

**This is a short to mid range jutsu.**

**To perform, form the Dog seal, before taking a deep breath, spinning around while you exhale, the chakra will form a blade sharp enough to cut a person in half if enough force is applied. **

**The longer you spin for, the wider the arc, thus reducing the attack power of the jutsu.**

End Scroll.

'_This one looks a little easier to perform than the first; I'll begin practicing them tomorrow.' _Naruto thought, smiling as he made his way back to his room, happy that he'd got more techniques to learn and happy that he could see Sakura again.

**The Next Day:**

When Naruto woke up the next day, he decided he wasn't going to use **Kage Bunshin** to learn these new Wind Jutsu. They seemed far too dangerous to have even 5 clones try it. He thought about which one to try first, he eventually decided on **Fūton: Shinkūha**, as it seemed easier to use than **Fūton: Shinkūgyoku. **As he was getting dressed, he noticed Sakura stirring, he decided to wait and ask if her if she'd like to train with him today.

Sakura opened her eyes to see Naruto watching her; he noticed her eyes on him and quickly turned his head away. He still had his head turned away when he asked her "Do you want to train with me today? We haven't spent any time together lately." She wouldn't tell him, but she also felt disappointed they'd spent such little time together the past few weeks.

"I'll ask Konan-sensei, why don't you head out there? I've got to get washed and dressed anyway." She told him, he turned back to face her and grinned, before agreeing and charging out of the room, slamming the door so hard the new wall he'd 'built' trembled as it tried to hold itself up.

**45 Minutes Later:**

Naruto was sitting in the centre of Training Ground 3, one of the very few he hadn't destroyed with some ridiculous jutsu at some point in time. He sat with his legs crossed; forming the Ram seal, so much chakra was seeping out, you could see a faint blue shroud surrounding his body. He'd already felt Sakura and Konan's presence, only stopping his meditation when they approached him. He opened his eyes, "Hey Sakura-chan! I'm surprised you were able to convince Konan-san to allow you to interact with other humans" Naruto joked, Sakura giggled at this, while Konan stood there with an impassive look on my face, "We didn't come out here for you to make poor jokes." She said.

"I actually want you to spar against Sakura." She told them.

"EH?!" "What?" They both shouted/said.

"It's a fine way of training, and it will help you get used to each other's techniques, as you two will be partners when you join us." She replied.

Naruto and Sakura each thought on this for a moment, before chorusing "I understand." Satisfied with this, Konan began speaking again.

"Very well, stand at least 20 meters apart." Konan told them. They did as she asked.

"Begin."

Naruto began sealing, taking it slowly as he didn't want to hurt Sakura, only for her to form the Tiger seal and call out "**Doton: Doryū Taiga**", causing a pool of mud to appear under Naruto's feet, knocking him off balance.

'_Shit, I forgot she's been training as well.'_ Naruto thought. He noticed she was running through some more seals, '_No doubt another Doton, I need to stop her before she stops me from moving completely.'_

Naruto took out a couple of shurikens and threw them at Sakura, she noticed them coming and quickly disrupted her seals and jumped out of the way.

By this time, Naruto had already freed himself from her **Doryū Taiga **technique, and had already started forming hand seals, "**Fūton: Daitoppa**" he shouted, the blast of wind hitting Sakura head on, sending her flying back.

She skidded along the ground, and marvelled at the strength of the Jutsu, '_I can tell he's holding back, but still, wow!'_ She thought to herself, proud of her friend.

She knew **Bunshins** would be out of the question in this fight, remembering Naruto's eyes can see chakra. She quickly stood up and noticed Naruto was charging towards her, she didn't know whether to laugh or be thankful for his stupidity. She formed the Snake seal with her hand, which Naruto noticed, paying it no heed; however he didn't notice the Rat seal she'd performed after.

He was suddenly enveloped in a circle of leaves, before being transported somewhere else entirely.

'_So Genjutsu is it eh?' _He thought, his eyes seeing through the surprisingly well developed Jutsu.

He placed his hands together in the Ram seal, before stopping his chakra flow momentarily and then forcing even more into it, as he did this he shouted "Kai!"

The Genjutsu dispersed and he turned to look for Sakura, only to nick his neck on something. "Ow, what?" He said. Looking down, he realized what it was; Sakura was holding a kunai to his throat. _'Huh, there's nothing I can do, __**Kawarimi**__ would be too noticeable, I don't want to risk raising my arms for the _**Kage Bunshin** _seal.' _Naruto thought.

"I give up." He announced, in a saddened tone. Konan allowed a small smile to grace her face, before wiping it off and walking over.

"Naruto." He looked over to her. "While you may dominate Sakura in Ninjutsu, chakra reserves, and most likely Taijutsu. She used her intelligence against you. Stalling you while she moved around to finish the job before you had any idea what was happening. Attacking her like you just did will most likely get you killed in a real battle. It's something you'll gain with experience. I have some books you can read explaining tactics, Sakura has studied them thoroughly, I'm sure she won't mind if you were to borrow them." Konan explained.

Sakura released Naruto, he turned to her, giving her a grin before slinging his arm over her shoulder and looking her dead in the eyes.

"Sakura-chan, that was amazing, even though I saw through your Genjutsu almost instantly, you still took advantage of the situation, and used it against me." Naruto said, "Just how many moves ahead were you thinking?" He asked her.

"None." She replied, noticing his ludicrous expression, one of awe as well as confusion, she couldn't help but laugh out loud before continuing. "Everything went perfect, I had the advantage before the battle began, Konan-sensei had already informed me of the spar. I just acted surprised when she told you about it. I wasn't expecting that **Fūton** jutsu though, if you had performed another Ninjutsu at that point, you would have undoubtedly won." She replied in a serious voice. "However you decided to come at me with Taijutsu, which was incredibly lucky for me, giving me enough time to perform the seals for the Genjutsu. I knew you'd see through it easily, so I just had to use the time I had to make it behind you, and place the kunai to your throat." She finished.

He looked at her for a moment, stunned, _'We're only 10 years old, and she's already got these kinds of things in her mind, I must have that book.' _Naruto thought.

He soon broke out into a wide grin, which she eagerly returned, before they walked off, deciding to get some lunch. Konan was left there, "You can come out you know" She said. "Maybe you should introduce yourself to them."

"No." **"No."** Zetsu replied. "They'd either bully me for looking strange, or run away scared." He joked.

"You're worried about being bullied by two 10 year olds? Oh, how the mighty have fallen" Konan replied sarcastically. "Also those two won't run away, they are far stronger than they let on."

"Heh, you're telling me, that boy especially, he seems to have such raw potential, it's no wonder Pain himself is training him." Zetsu said. "The girl also seems to have perfect chakra control?" He questioned, Konan just nodded. **"They'll be quite formidable when they're older" **Zetsu's darker half commented. Konan nodded once again before walking off.

Naruto and Sakura had gotten some Dango for lunch, Sakura tried to stop him but he insisted, claiming they'd work off any weight they managed to gain from 8 pieces of it.

They'd returned to the training ground where Naruto had shown Sakura the scrolls that Orochimaru had given him. He told her he'd be fine learning **Fūton: Shinkūha **without any help, but asked her how she'd go about exhaling the balls of wind for **Fūton: Shinkūgyoku**. She told him it'd be wise to exhale them slowly, but forcefully to begin with, then as he became better with the Jutsu, he could increase the speed he exhaled them at.

He nodded along as he listened, mentally slapping himself for not thinking of that himself. She added that it would require immense concentration to spit them in such quick succession. He knew now just how far behind Sakura in terms of tactics and intelligence he was. As soon as she had finished talking he asked her if he could read that book when she finished with it. She merely smiled before nodding.

Naruto knew he wasn't that advanced in ninjutsu techniques yet, he figured he could ask the other members to help him in that area, and perhaps even some Taijutsu training.

**One Year Later:**

Naruto had decided to keep a journal of every Jutsu he had learnt, for quick reference if needed. He also gave a quick explanation.

**Journal:**

Katon:

**Hōsenka no Jutsu**

A Jutsu mostly used for distraction, you launch several small balls of fire at the target. Itachi told me you could set various traps using the Jutsu, but then said I'd have to figure out how on my own.

The hand seals are: Rat - Tiger - Dog - Ox - Rabbit – Tiger.

**Gōkakyū no Jutsu**

You have to take a deep breath, and gather chakra in your chest, then exhale. I've watched Itachi do it, and he seems to make a ring around with his mouth with his index finger and thumb before spewing out the Fireball. He told me it's not necessary to perform the jutsu, just force of habit.

The hand seals are: Horse - Snake - Ram - Monkey - Boar - Horse – Tiger.

**Karyū Endan**

This is an offensive jutsu; it's along the same lines as **Gōkakyū no Jutsu**. You take a deep breath, and gather chakra in your lungs, before exhaling, however instead of breathing it all out at once like **Gōkakyū no Jutsu**, you breathe it out in a steady stream of fire. Itachi told me he'd seen Jii-san, back in Konoha, perform it once, he said it was so ferocious, the flame seemed be white.

The hand seals are: Ram – Horse – Snake – Dragon – Ox – Tiger.

Fūton:

**Fūton: Daitoppa**

This is an offensive Jutsu; it creates a large blast of wind from where you're standing when you finish the hand seals. It can be devastating if enough chakra is put into the technique.

The hand seals are: Tiger – Ox – Dog – Rabbit – Snake.

**Fūton: Shinkūha**

After finishing the hand seals, you take a deep breath, and spin your body whilst exhaling. Doing this releases a large blade of wind, capable of cutting through almost anything. I should know, I've accidentally destroyed many things with this Jutsu.

The hand seals are: Rat – Serpent – Horse – Dog.

**Fūton: Shinkūgyoku**

You only need one hand seal for this Jutsu, which is the Dog seal. Afterwards you take a deep breath, and exhale rapidly, spitting out balls of wind. The more chakra infused into the attack, the more damage they can do. The most I've ever seen is for one to go through at least 2 walls before the Jutsu ended.

Raiton:

**Raiton: Jibashi**

After performing the hand seals, a wave of electricity will appear from the user's hands. This Jutsu can vary in power to weakly shocking the target or strong enough to carve through solid rock.

The hand seals are: Boar – Ram – Snake – Horse – Dragon.

**Raiton Kage Bunshin**

Works the same way as a **Kage Bunshin**, it can perform Jutsu and interact with the environment. If the Clone is injured, it will disperse back into its lightning state, electrocuting whatever it was touching at the time.

Doton:

**Doton: Doryūkatsu**

Orochimaru told me of these things called Dragon Veins underneath the ground, which, using this jutsu, can be manipulated to gain an edge over the enemy.

The hand seals are: Rabbit – Boar – Rat – Horse – Tiger – Snake.

**Doton: Doryūheki**

This is a defensive Jutsu. After performing the hand seals, you spit mud from your mouth, which will solidify into a shield, to be used against attacks.

The hand seals are complicated, but are as follows: Tiger with left - Ox with right - adjust Ox above Tiger.

Suiton:

**Suiton: Suihachi**

This Jutsu will produce a fairly powerful jet of water from the palm of your hand.

The hand seals are: Snake – Horse – Rat.

**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu**

Kisame taught me this Jutsu to be used when Sakura implements Genjutsu or the opponent is weakened and can't currently move or defend, as there are forty-four hand seals.

The hand seals are: Ox - Monkey - Hare - Rat - Boar - Rooster - Ox - Horse - Rooster - Rat - Tiger - Dog - Tiger - Snake - Ox - Sheep - Snake - Boar - Sheep - Rat - Monkey - Rooster - Dragon - Rooster - Ox - Horse - Sheep - Tiger - Snake - Boar - Rat - Monkey - Hare - Boar - Dragon - Sheep - Rat - Ox - Monkey - Rooster - Boar - Rat - Snake – Rooster.

**End of Journal.**

In the past year, Naruto had found out Orochimaru had tried to attack Itachi, and somehow take his body, Itachi had simply used a genjutsu on him before slicing his hand off, thus disrupting the Jutsu. He'd taken Orochimaru's ring from his severed hand before dismissing him.

It was also during this year, he and Sakura had met Zetsu, to his satisfaction they didn't seem bothered by his appearance, and Naruto was, in fact, in awe of him, while Sakura was fascinated, he never told them anything about himself, just a quick introduction. To throw them off his trail, he complimented their skills. Being 10 years old, their egos swiftly increased. Although they were brought crashing back to Earth the moment he mentioned anyone in Akatsuki could defeat them easily. He left abruptly after that, leaving them to wallow in self-pity. Naruto had brought Sakura's out of hers easily enough though. A quick offer for lunch with him always seemed to cheer her up nowadays; it confused him to no end.

Back to the present; Naruto was currently sitting on his bed, reading a book Konan had given him. It was about the use of tactics in battle, he'd learnt a lot from reading these books; distractions, making full use of teammates if you have them, taunts to make the opponent angry thus weakening their resolve, using the environment to your advantage. He'd absorbed it like a sponge, and was now not as cocky or overly dramatic as he had been; in fact he seemed more at peace, and a lot calmer.

There was a knock on his door. He looked up before uttering "Come in."

Konan stepped into the room, and noticed the piles of books stacked in front of his bed. She let a small smile grace her lips, before saying "Naruto-san, Leader-sama would like to see you in the main meeting room."

Naruto looked up from his book, before nodding and smiling kindly at Konan.

"Thank you Konan, I'm on my way." He said as he got off the bed and put his sandals on, before stepping out of the room, and heading in the opposite direction of Konan.

He entered the meeting room to find Pain and Kakuzu; he'd gotten some training, if you could call it that, from him during the last year. He'd taught him some Raiton jutsu; _'I guess it helps having weird beasts on your back do all the work for you.' _Naruto thought, before walking over.

"Naruto, you already know Kakuzu." Kakuzu merely nodded, acknowledging the boy's presence. "You're going with him to hunt down an A-Class missing Nin." Pain told him. Naruto didn't react, processing this new information. "He's been raiding small villages with a bandit gang; his body will fetch a decent price, as you know we need the money. It will also give you much needed battle experience."

"Yea, but I don't know why we need the money." Naruto added. Receiving a blank look from Pain. "All will be revealed in due time, for now, just do as I tell you." Pain commanded with a subtle undertone of authority.

Naruto merely nodded, not wanting to argue. He followed Kakuzu out of the compound, he formed a **Kage Bunshin** to go and tell Sakura where he was going.

He and Kakuzu were walking towards the gates of Amegakure, when Naruto suddenly turned a bright red, having realised the clone had dismissed himself. _'A goodbye kiss on the cheek? She's acting very odd lately; I wonder what's going on.'_ He thought to himself.

"We're going to a small village in near the border of Ame no Kuni; I've heard from various contacts that the bandit gang our target is said to be involved with have been attacking travellers near there." Kakuzu spoke, knocking Naruto out of his stupor.

"Alright, how long will the journey be?" Naruto asked.

"We'll be moving at my pace, so no more than a day." Kakuzu replied, before breaking out in a run. Naruto had no trouble keeping up, but to travellers, if they had good eyes they would have been able to catch a brief glimpse of black, before it flew past.

8 hours had passed since Naruto and Kakuzu had left Amegakure, they had stopped at a Dango stand for a bit of rest and something to eat. It was all Naruto's idea, much to Kakuzu's chagrin. He said he could just take a soldier pill, but Naruto had insisted.

They soon entered Kohaku Village. It was a small village; Naruto noticed that, although it wasn't that late in the day, 4:30 to be precise, everyone was already inside.

"There was nothing that said anything about the bandits entering the village. Why is everyone inside?" Kakuzu questioned, not really expecting an answer.

"Maybe it's our presence." Naruto said.

"No, no-one knew we were coming. Let's see if we can find someone." Kakuzu said, before he walked off.

They found a small tavern and stepped inside, noticing there was no-one in here.

"Ah sorry gentlemen, I was just closing up, I'm afraid I can't serve you." The Bartender told them as he swept the floor.

"I don't care about that." Kakuzu told him coldly. "Where is the bandit gang that has said to have been around this area?"

"Eh?! You can't be thinking about going after them?" The Bartender practically screamed.

"I didn't ask for your concern, tell me where they are." Kakuzu responded, a certain edge in his tone that sent a chill down Naruto's spine.

'_Oh crap, I need to get out of here, if he gets angry, he'll kill anyone close by, regardless of who they are.' _Naruto thought to himself.

"Forgive me, Shinobi-san, they are about 30 minutes to the east of here, there's about 7 of them. 6 of them seem like normal raiders, but their leader is pretty ferocious, I'd be careful of him." The Bartender said, before bowing quickly and retreating into the room behind the counter.

"Let's go." Kakuzu said, walking out the door and heading in the direction the Bartender had pointed them in.

They had quickly reached the entrance of the bandit camp, and decided to forgo subtlety.

"**Doton: Doryūkatsu**" Naruto shouted out, causing a pillar to shoot out of the ground in the middle of the camp. 6 men soon came out of their tents, screaming various obscenities. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" was the one Naruto heard most before all eyes turned to him and Kakuzu.

"You take care of this trash. I'm going for the leader; I can sense him in that tent there." Kakuzu pointed before shunshinning the short distance.

One of the bandits charged at him, trying to catch him off guard, only for him to turn around, his hand seemingly launching from his wrist, catching the man by the neck. Fear flashed in the man's eyes before a quick movement of the wrist snapped his neck. He threw the body to the side, before entering the tent, only to fly out backwards a moment later.

While the bandits were distracted with Kakuzu's savage attack, Naruto had already begun forming hand seals, preparing his next Jutsu.

"**Raiton: Jibashi**" He shouted, aiming for the nearest bandit, enough chakra in the attack to shock him into unconsciousness.

"A-Argh!" He managed to get out before collapsing on the floor.

Naruto smirked as he noticed the other 4 charge at him, swords drawn; he pulled out a kunai before racing toward them.

"Surround him, he'll be easier to –" The bandit was interrupted as Naruto sent him flying upwards with a thunderous uppercut, he landed on the back of his neck and slumped to the ground. Naruto had turned and thrown the kunai at the nearest bandit. He barely dodged it.

"Shit, I didn't think they'd send ninjas!" One of them shouted.

"What the hell is wrong with his eyes?!" Another shouted.

"Who gives a shit, it's 3 on 1, he's just a kid, and we have the advantage!" The last said. Naruto noticed he more experienced than the other two.

Naruto had raced towards the bandit he'd thrown the kunai at; the bandit noticed him and swung his sword wildly.

Naruto quickly dived forward, underneath the sword swipe. He collided with the man's shins, knocking them both to the ground. He quickly regained his composure and punched the fallen bandit in the face, incapacitating him.

He stood up and quickly performed 3 hand seals before holding his hand out and speaking "**Suiton: Suihachi**", a jet of water bursting from his palm, hitting one of the bandits square in the chest, launching him backwards, clearly winded.

"You're far stronger than I expected. A mere boy able to take down 4 bandits" The last bandit told said to him. This man was the more experienced of the 6.

'_He seems strong, I'll have to be careful' _Naruto thought.

The man suddenly rushed forward, swinging wildly, smirking all the while.

'_Ugh, I haven't trained enough with Kisame to see through the sword swipes, I've got no choice, I'll have to use it.' _Naruto thought.

Naruto quickly jumped back and held out his arm.

"**Shinra Tensei!**" He called out. The bandit felt like someone had punched him in the guy before he found himself being launched backwards; he crashed into one of the various tents littering the area.

'_What the fuck was that? Kuh! It feels like a few of my ribs are broken' _The bandit thought, coughing up blood whilst gently tracing his chest, trying to locate the broken ribs.

Naruto had taken advantage of the situation and began running towards the injured bandit, the man noticed him at the last second, before a ferocious punch knocked him out.

Naruto stood up straight, shaking his wrist. "Man! That last punch hurt." He complained.

He glanced over to where Kakuzu had been fighting, and noticed the man strolling towards him, a corpse draped over his shoulder.

"Let's go." He said simply.

"WHAT?! We've got to carry that body all the way back to Amegakure?!" Naruto called out.

Kakuzu merely glared at him. "No, you imbecile, we're going to drop it off at a nearby Black market exchange point, and collect the bounty."

Naruto frowned. "HEY! We're not done yet!" They both turned around to see 3 of the 6 bandits Naruto had fought. One was holding his face, the other his ribs, and the last was furiously rubbing the back of his neck.

"You didn't kill them?" Kakuzu asked, anger clearly present in his voice.

Naruto merely shook his head.

"Do it now." He commanded.

"What?" Naruto questioned, clearly shocked by the demand.

"I said kill them, they are threat to us. You wanted to become a Shinobi, this is part of it, now kill them. I know you have a technique that can take them all out at once. Do it, they are a waste of time anyway." Kakuzu said as he continued walking.

Meanwhile Naruto was struggling with an inner conflict. _'They are a threat to me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?! I've already defeated them, is that not enough? Is this what being a ninja is all about? Killing people to survive? But if I don't act, they'll kill me here and now! What the hell am I supposed to do?!' _Naruto thought to himself. He looked up only to be greeted by the kunai he'd thrown earlier. It struck him in his thigh.

"You overconfident little shit! We're not going down that easily!" One of them shouted.

Naruto glared at the bandits hobbling towards him; he could see their comrades stirring in the background. He yanked the kunai out of his thigh, wincing in pain.

"You brought this on yourselves." Naruto stated simply.

He performed the necessary hand seals before calling out "**Fūton: Daitoppa**".

He watched as the enormous blast of wind hit the bandits full-on, small cuts appearing on their skin before they were blasted backwards.

Kakuzu had stopped to survey the carnage, and watched as Naruto went to inspect his handiwork.

There were 6 corpses strewn about the area, some had deep lacerations in their flesh, others had badly broken limbs.

Naruto took it all in, knowing a lot more of this was to come.

He simply turned away from the scene, before walking forwards a few steps and vomiting violently.

'_Heh, I've never seen anyone react any differently to their first kill, why are they always sick?' _Kakuzu thought to himself. He had decided to wait for Naruto to catch up.

The trips to the Exchange Point and back to Amegakure were silent. Kakuzu didn't care.

They entered Pain's complex, before Naruto asked. "Do you mind reporting to Pain? I'm going to see Sakura."

Kakuzu glared at the boy, before nodding, watching Naruto walk off slowly.

**With Pain and Kakuzu:**

"I see, well, that's to be expected, it's his first time killing someone." Pain said, after listening to Kakuzu's report.

"Yes, although he seems to have taken it better than most people, killing 6 people at once isn't as simple as one." Kakuzu added. "It would have crushed any other person his age."

Pain merely nodded, before turning to face him.

"Have you counted the money?" He asked.

"It's all there." Kakuzu said, handing the briefcase over and walking out.

**With Sakura and Naruto:**

Naruto had been sitting there, watching Sakura go through various medical techniques with Konan giving her tips occasionally.

Konan had noticed the boy and allowed Sakura 5 minutes to speak with him.

She ran over with a smile on her face. "Hey Naruto, how did everything...Naruto? Are you ok?" She asked him, noticing the solemn look on his face.

"Sakura, I killed 6 people today." He said simply.

She gasped and took a few steps backward, registering what he'd just said.

Konan had heard as well, but decided to just wait out and see what Sakura's reaction would be.

'_He killed 6 people? Why? But he did mention it was a bounty hunt he was going on, besides we're ninjas, Konan-sensei has informed me I'd have to kill people to survive. I never thought it'd come so soon though." _Sakura thought, before glancing over at Naruto. He had a pained expression on his face now.

She did the only thing she could, and enveloped him in a hug. He returned it almost immediately, not caring about the closeness, he needed this.

"It's alright Naruto, it had to come eventually, I wasn't expecting it this quickly though, and I doubt you were either. But it's fine, if you hadn't done it, you'd have died and then where would that leave me eh?" She said hoping she'd get a positive reaction; she was immensely relieved to hear him laughing against her.

"I know you can't cope without me Sakura-chan!" He shouted, as he pulled away from the hug, with a grin slapped on his face, she could tell it was fake but decided not to bring it up.

'_He doesn't realize how right he is' _Konan thought to herself, she was going to say something to Sakura about her feelings for Naruto, but after witnessing this, she knew the matter would resolve itself eventually.

"Hai, hai." Sakura said, giggling along with him.

"I'll be going now Sakura-chan, I've got to train some more, Pain said he'd called Kisame here to teach me a few more jutsu. Good luck with your training and I'll see you later?" Naruto finished with a question. Getting a nod from Sakura, he ran off.

'_I wonder if he's really alright.' _Sakura thought to herself, watching her friend's back disappear into the darkness of the corridor.

**With Naruto:**

'_Pain said he'd send someone up when Kisame arrived. That gives me some time to think about what I did today.' _Naruto thought.

'_Those guys were going to kill me. I know that. Does that make me killing them okay though? Is it self-defence? Kakuzu said this is what being a ninja is. Killing people. No matter where you're brought up, if you want to be a ninja, you have to kill people. What about..'_

A knocking on the door knocked Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Come in." He spoke, he looked up to see Sakura enter the door and sit down opposite him.

"I knew you weren't ok." She said.

He gave her a sad smile. "I'm that easy to read huh?" He asked, his eyes studying the floor.

"Not at all, I just know you too well." She joked. "Will you talk to me?" She asked.

He contemplated this for a moment, before looking up at her, nodding and patting the place on the bed next to him, inviting her over.

She sat down and he turned to look at her, dead in the eyes.

'_His eyes are looking right through me; they look as fantastic as ever.' _She thought.

"I don't know if what I did earlier was okay. I know those men were going to kill me, but that doesn't make me any happier or feel better about killing them." He said, still staring at her.

She couldn't tell his emotions, his eyes helped him hide them even more.

She tore her gaze away from him for a moment, and sighed.

"Naruto, you know as well as me, that killing people is not okay." She said.

His eyes widened before he moved his gaze from her to the floor.

"However, if you hadn't killed them, they'd have definitely killed you, there's no doubt about that." She continued, his eyes were still on the floor. "Besides, they were bandits; they'd killed innocent people before. Do you think they thought about it like you are? If you ask me they deserved what you did to them." She said firmly, shocking Naruto.

"We're ninjas Naruto; we are sometimes paid to kill people, most of them deserve it anyway. At least from what I've read. I know there's not much I can say to make you feel any better but please don't forget that I'm here for you. Don't destroy yourself over something that needed to happen." She finished, with a maturity no 11 year old should possess.

She stood up and walked towards the door, opening it; she turned to him and gave him a quick sincere smile before exiting the room.

Naruto sat on his bed, in stunned silence.

'_She – she's right...Those men needed to die, they were bandits. I suppose I should be thankful that I had to kill scum instead of someone honourable. It's something that needed to happen, does that mean she'll have to do it as well?' _ He thought, before standing up, opening his window and sticking his head out. He took a deep breath, before glancing across the village.

'_I'll be there for Sakura, same as she was with me. But first, I need to think more about this, I'm sure I'll have to kill a few more people yet.' _Naruto thought, walking away from the window, leaving it open.

He plopped himself down on his bed and laid down.

'_Will I be able to handle it?'_ He thought to himself before dozing off.

**A year later:**

Naruto had spent the past year training and honing the Jutsus he currently knew.

He'd also been training with Kisame:

"COME ON, YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!" Kisame roared, swinging at Naruto violently.

Naruto just managed to jump over the slice, before landing and rolling back immediately. He quickly stood up and shot through a few hand seals. Kisame noticed this and held **Samehada** up to defend himself from the attack he knew was coming.

"**Raiton: Jibashi!**" Naruto shouted, holding out his hands, and aiming towards Kisame.

A bolt of lightning shot out of his palm and struck **Samehada**. Kisame merely looked at Naruto before swinging his sword around a few times, as if to get rid of any excess electricity coursing through it.

"Oh come on, Naruto, this IS PATHETIC!" He said before launching towards Naruto,** Samehada** was held in his left hand, he punched Naruto hard in the stomach with his right, sending the 12 year old careening backwards along the ground.

Naruto stood up, and spat blood, before pulling out a kunai with his left hand and charging at Kisame. He raced towards him, forming a **Kage Bunshin**, using it a stepping stone, he launched into the air, throwing the Kunai at Kisame, to distract him. It didn't work, the kunai struck Kisame in the thigh, he seemed to ignore it and kept his eyes on Naruto, who was currently flying towards him.

Naruto had just finished sealing, he took a deep breath before firing several large balls of wind at Kisame.

'_Shit, I wasn't expecting that kind of attack.' _Kisame thought.

One of the balls struck Kisame in the stomach, forcing him to take a step back, and then another and another.

Naruto didn't let this advantage go to waste, he quickly began sealing and called out "**Katon: ****Hōsenka no Jutsu**".

Kisame, who was just regaining his footing after the wind assault looked up to see several balls of fire this time, flying towards him, he formed some hand seals, before calling out "**Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu**".

Naruto, who was using the small fireballs as cover so he could move closer to Kisame without giving away his presence, was not expecting this Jutsu.

As soon as the Water Shark struck his fireballs, he dived through the steam with his arm held out in front of him and called out "**Shinra Tensei!**"

The full force of a medium-power **Shinra Tensei** struck Kisame dead on, launching him backwards, causing him to slam into the wall of the training ground.

Naruto rolled forward, and backed away from the wall immediately, expecting some kind of attack to fly through the dust that been kicked up. When nothing happened he relaxed, only to hear "You fool" and a shout of "**Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu**".

He turned around to see a large Shark made of water flying at him, it struck him dead on, launching him backwards. He lay on the ground before coughing a bit and cursing "Shit." He stood up and looked up to see Kisame, smirking and strolling towards him with **Samehada** resting on his shoulder.

"Not bad, kid." He said, before sitting on a small rock that was placed in the training ground.

Naruto just stood there, rubbing his chest where the Shark missile had struck him.

"I'm impressed Naruto." Pain said as he strolled outside, he'd been observing the battle.

"Kisame, I'd like you to teach Naruto that **Suiton** Jutsu you just used." Pain continued. "Naruto, how many elemental Jutsu do you know now?" He asked.

Naruto thought for a moment before answering.

"I know 4 **Katon**, 5 **Futon**, 2 **Raiton**, 3 **Doton** and 4 **Suiton**, if you include the one Kisame's going to teach me." Naruto replied.

Pain merely nodded. "Very well, today's training is finished. Kisame, I want you to show Naruto that technique tomorrow; you can teach him the basics. His eyes and natural skill will do the rest." He finished before walking out.

Naruto merely ran back inside, only stopping to nod when he heard Kisame shout: "Be here at 7 in the morning!"

In his room, he already knew Sakura was out on a mission with Konan today, he sat at his desk and pulled out his Technique Journal:

**Journal:**

**Katon: Gōenkyū**

Itachi told me this technique is a much larger and more destructive version of **Gōkakyū no Jutsu **and only to be used in extreme circumstances.

The hand seals are the same as **Gōkakyū no Jutsu**, you just have to force a lot more chakra into the technique.

**Fūton: Reppūshō**

This is a simple technique that launches a concentrated gust of wind at the opponent; it can also be used to increase the speed and damage of thrown objects. Leader-sama taught me this one, surprisingly.

You just clap your hands together before calling the technique out and exhaling.

**Fūton: Kami Oroshi**

This Jutsu creates a large vortex of wind that you can launch at the target.

There is only one hand seal: Tiger.

**Doton: Yomi Numa**

This Jutsu creates a swamp beneath the target, if it is made deep enough it will kill the target. The larger you want the swamp to be, the more chakra you force into the Jutsu.

The hand seals are: Boar – Tiger.

**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu**

This Jutsu forms a strong pillar of water to attack the opponent, due to the force of the water; the target will be fully enveloped and dragged away. It is mostly used when you have someone who can cover you.

The hand seals are: Tiger - Ox - Monkey - Rabbit - Ram - Boar - Ox - Horse - Monkey - Tiger - Dog - Tiger - Snake - Tiger - Ox - Monkey - Rabbit – Bird.

**Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu**

This Jutsu forces water to attack the opponent in the form of a shark, I've been on the receiving end and can vouch for the amount of pain and damage it can cause.

The hand seals: Tiger – Ox – Dragon – Rabbit – Bird – Dragon – Ram.

**End of Journal.**

After Naruto had finished adding his latest Jutsu to his Journal, he turned around and collapsed onto his bed. He laid there for around 15 minutes, before the door slowly opened and Sakura stepped inside. He noticed something wrong about her.

"Hey, Sakura?" He questioned, only for her to run at him and envelop him in a hug. She wouldn't let him see her face. He pulled her off him and looked at her; he could see tear marks down her face. He didn't have to guess at what had happened on this mission.

"Naruto....I killed someone today." She said. He immediately hugged her again, and she started crying once more.

They sat there like for about 10 minutes, until her crying subsided into small sobs and a small cough occasionally.

He looked at her, right in the eyes, before telling her, "You don't have to explain to me what happened. Just know, I'm here for you."

She held his gaze before merely nodding. She'd already accepted that it was something she'd had to do, that didn't mean it wouldn't affect her however.

She sat cradled in Naruto's arm for about an hour, before realizing how much time had passed.

They had sat in a comfortable silence, Sakura breaking out in sobs occasionally. Naruto didn't complain once about cramp or being uncomfortable, all that mattered to him then was making sure Sakura was okay.

She slowly stood up and walked over to her bed, pulling back the covers. She turned around and took one last glance at Naruto, only to finding him staring and smiling at her. She sadly smiled back, before climbing into her bed and drifting off to sleep almost immediately.

It didn't take long for Naruto to do the same.

**The Next Morning:**

Naruto awoke at 6 in the morning, he noticed Sakura sleeping soundly, he let a smile grace his lips, before stepping into the bathroom to get ready for the day's training.

He went down into one of the various kitchens in the complex, only to find Itachi there, sitting at the table.

"Naruto." Itachi acknowledged. "How is your training coming along?" He asked.

Naruto merely nodded, "I think it's coming along well, Kisame's going to teach me another Jutsu today, and I've been experimenting with my eyes. Pain told me that although I can see normally, if I focus a little bit of chakra to my eyes, I can see chakra. I must have done it subconsciously when you asked me that first time, with the barrier." He finished.

Itachi merely nodded. "I thought so, even though it's constantly active, you can see through your eyes normally. It's not like the Byakugan or Sharingan which can be turned off at will, but when they are activated, they change your vision entirely, quite handy really. I'm sure they must drain chakra, but considering you have so much, I presume it hardly scratches the surface. Considering it's always active, you have to abandon subtlety or stealth since it's easily recognizable. But the ability to master all 6 Chakra elements and the various other techniques that come with it makes it seem like that disadvantage doesn't even exist." Itachi finished.

"Pain mentioned the Sharingan once when he was teaching me **Shinra Tensei**; he said it wouldn't be able to copy it. What did he mean?" Naruto asked him.

"Ah, Leader-sama is right, that kind of Jutsu is restricted to those who wield the Rinnegan. I'm sure there are more Jutsus like it; I couldn't copy any of them. I have no idea how they work, I presume it's something like a Kekkei Genkai. An extremely complicated one though." Itachi answered.

"Kekkei Genkai? I read about them in one of the scrolls in the library, it's something that's restricted to a certain clan or person right?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, most Kekkei Genkai are actually 2 Elemental Natures mixed together, I only know of 2 of those, which are; **Mokuton Jutsu **and **Hyoton Jutsu**. There's also Doujutsu, such as Rinnegan, Sharingan and Byakugan." Itachi told him.

'_There's so much I don't know, damn it!'_ Naruto berated himself mentally.

He glanced at the clock on wall, "Shit! I'm supposed to meet Kisame at 7, can we talk later or are you going somewhere?" He asked Itachi.

"I'll be here for the rest of the day, I'm sure the Jutsu training won't take too long, I have something I want to talk to you about anyway." Itachi said.

Naruto nodded, before grabbing an apple and sprinting out the door.

Naruto reached the training ground at 7:05, only to find that Kisame was nowhere to seen. He strolled up to the rock that Kisame was sitting on yesterday, only for the ground to break open and Kisame burst out and grasped Naruto by his collar, easily lifting him off the ground.

"Where were you?" He asked simply.

"Kuh..I was talking to Itachi." Naruto struggled to get out.

"Huh, I see." Kisame said, finally dropping Naruto, the boy landed on his feet and jumped back, dusting himself off.

"What the hell was that for?!" Naruto shouted.

"You were late, I needed to discipline you." Kisame answered, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Alright, I'll explain the Jutsu to you." Kisame said. Naruto merely nodded before he continued.

"After you've formed the hand seals, if you've honed the **Suiton** element to an extremely high level, you'll be able to just form the shark and launch it at the target. If not it'll be like **Daibakufu no Jutsu **and **Suiryūdan no Jutsu**, which means there has to be a reasonable amount of water nearby. Now, the hand seals are: Tiger – Ox – Dragon – Rabbit – Bird – Dragon – Ram. Before that though, come over here and Shinra Tensei this part of the ground for me." He said, pointing to a part of the ground.

Naruto just shrugged before strolling over and blasting a small crater into the ground.

Kisame smirked before forming a few hand seals and spewing out enough water to fill the crater.

"Right, after you've formed the hand seals, just call out the name and the Jutsu will attack whatever you're looking it, once it's launched however, you can't control it. That's a big disadvantage, so it's best used when the target is distracted or can't move, like when I got you yesterday, you lowered your guard and look where that got you." Kisame said.

"Now show me the Jutsu." He commanded.

Naruto went through the hand seals, before calling out "**Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu**" and keeping his eyes on the wall in front of him.

A large Shark comprised off water rose out of the crater and sped towards the spot Naruto was looking at. It crashed into the wall, causing small cracks to appear where it had hit.

Kisame whistled before telling Naruto, "Nice work, I want you to try to make it smaller and more compressed, it should be a little bit faster that way, making the main disadvantage of the Jutsu not as prominent."

Naruto nodded before trying once again, this time the Shark didn't do as much wide spread damage, it did however impact further into the wall.

'_This kid is ridiculous, I just taught him that Jutsu, he's had two tries and both have been reasonable. Leader-sama did mention something about his eyes. Eyes and natural talent eh? I'll ask Itachi if he knows what he meant by that. He seems to know a lot about Doujutsu.' _Kisame thought.

"Alright Naruto, practice the Jutsu for however long you want, I've got some matters to take care of. Cya." Kisame said, strolling away into the complex.

Naruto stood there for a moment before forming another Shark missile and launching it at the wall.

**With Kisame:**

Kisame entered the main foyer of the complex, only to notice Itachi sitting in a corner, studying some kind of scroll.

"Itachi! I want to ask you something." Kisame shouted, walking towards him.

Itachi didn't even look up, he just gestured at the chair opposite him. Kisame swiftly collapsed into it, placing his feet on the table, wobbling it slightly. Itachi just frowned.

"You know about Naruto's eyes, Leader-sama said something teaching him Jutsu, but he picks them up within 4 – 5 attempts, I've never heard of anything like that, even with natural talent." Kisame questioned.

"It's another power of his eyes, because he has the ability to master all 6 elements, it's rather easy for him to learn Jutsu as I'm sure you can imagine. I've been researching as much as I can about the Rinnegan; unfortunately there is hardly any information about it at all." Itachi replied.

"So he can learn almost any Jutsu in existence simply because of his eyes?" Kisame said, a hint of awe could be heard in his voice.

"Yes, along with the Rinnegan and his natural skill at Ninjutsu, he'll be one of the strongest ninjas in existence. He's got to be, to live up to his legacy." Itachi finished.

"Eh? What legacy?" Kisame asked.

"He's the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato." Itachi said simply.

"Wha..?" Kisame said, shocked. "But he sealed the Kyuubi inside him?"

"Yes, although I don't remember the details, he couldn't exactly ask someone for their baby so he could theoretically ruin it's life." Itachi replied, not even batting an eyelid at the sensitive material he'd just revealed.

"How do you know all this?" Kisame questioned, still sceptical over Itachi's claim.

"You don't think I just wasted my time when I became an ANBU Captain do you? There were some complex seals and traps protecting that kind of material, I just managed a glimpse before I nearly lost my arm." Itachi told him.

"Besides if you've ever seen a picture of the Yondaime, then you look at Naruto, you can see resemblance." He finished.

Kisame made a mental note to find a picture of the Yondaime and study it thoroughly.

"Huh. Alright, I'd best go and check on Naruto." Kisame said, before standing up and strolling outside.

He entered the training ground he and Naruto had been and found the boy in the process of forming another missile. He watched from afar as the missile rose out of the water in the crater, a lot longer and streamlined than the ones he'd seen him create before. It flew at the wall and dug into it, before dispersing. Kisame looked on, impressed.

"Oi, Naruto!" He shouted at the boy, walking towards him. "Why are they so much longer? That won't do enough damage." He said to the boy.

"I know that, but they travel faster and don't immediately disperse when they hit something. They won't do as much damage, but you can aim for more precise spots with it." Naruto explained.

'_So he took the Jutsu and adapted it, I don't really like them like this, but I'll admit it's clever of him to have figured out how to make them faster.'_ Kisame thought.

"Alright Naruto, I want you to show me **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu**, aim it at the ground, not the wall, it doesn't look very stable at the moment." He joked.

Naruto just nodded before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, his eyes quickly opened and he ran through the forty-four hand seals required for the Jutsu. Kisame stood there, smirking.

"**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu**" Naruto shouted.

Four prongs of water shot up from the crater, the rest of the water snaked up through the prongs and formed what looked like a dragon, it's eyes glowing a sinister yellow.

Naruto kept his eyes focused on the ground; the dragon followed his line of sight and crashed directly into the spot he'd been looking at, causing a small crater to form.

"Very good. Training's over for today, I just wanted to see if you'd kept on practicing the other Jutsu I'd taught you." Kisame told him, Naruto just grinned at him and nodded. Kisame seemed satisfied by this and strolled back indoors.

Naruto decided to stay outside and practice his **Doton** Jutsus a bit more, feeling like he hadn't invested enough time in them.

**2 Hours Later:**

Naruto stepped into the complex, noticing Itachi sitting in the corner, poring over some scrolls, Naruto also noticed a small pile of them placed behind him as well.

He walked over to him. "Itachi?"

Itachi turned around to see Naruto walking towards him, arms crossed behind his head.

"Naruto, I want to ask you something. Sit down." He said, Naruto complied and sat down opposite him.

"I've been researching your Doujutsu; so far I've found nothing that we don't already know, Rikudou Sennin, all 6 Chakra elements. I want to know what it feels like." Itachi asked him.

Naruto was shocked by the question, mainly because Itachi usually kept to himself.

"I remember the first time I used them, that accident before we first met." He looked down at the floor. "I didn't know what had happened but I felt great, like I'd been reborn, I can't describe it. Now I don't feel any different, if I am supposed to feel any different now, I'm guessing my body has already gotten used to it." Naruto told him.

Itachi merely nodded, "I see, it's nothing like first awakening the Sharingan then. It's quite overwhelming I'll admit, seeing chakra for the first time, watching people move, knowing how they're going to move before they do."

Naruto merely nodded, not knowing how to reply to what Itachi had said.

It was silent for a moment before Naruto piped up.

"Itachi, earlier when we were talking about the Sharingan, you mentioned something called the Bakugan. What's that?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, it's called the Byakugan, and it's another Doujutsu, like the Rinnegan and Sharingan. I'll explain something to you, there are only 3 known Doujutsu throughout the world: The Rinnegan, Sharingan and Byakugan. It would seem to me that the Rinnegan is focused purely on Ninjutsu, giving you all 6 Chakra elements and various other abilities. The fact you seem to be able to learn any Jutsu once it's been shown to you also supports this. The Sharingan is a Genjutsu Doujutsu; it's very hard to break one that has the Sharingan supporting it. It also allows me or any other user to copy any technique they see, be it Ninjutsu, Genjutsu or Taijutsu. And finally there's the Byakugan, which is a Taijutsu Doujutsu, it allows the user to see chakra pathways and Tenketsu points, I know your Rinnegan can as well, but as the Byakugan's fighting style revolves around them, they are much clearer. The Hyuugas, the clan with the Byakugan, have a special fighting style called **Jūken**, where they utilise the Byakugan to its fullest. A Master of this style can stop you from using chakra altogether, although it's not permanent, it's still a deadly tool. It requires them to force a little of their own chakra into the targets, once that's done they can rupture or divert the chakra flow. It also gives you a 360º field of vision, and some kind of telescopic sight, making it perfect for scouting." Itachi explained.

"Wow, so that's it?" Naruto asked.

"Well, there are more techniques for each eye. I'm sure Leader-sama will show you all the techniques of the Rinnegan. There are some special techniques of the Sharingan, but I won't tell you anything about those. The Byakugan, I know it has some, I've never witnessed them however so I can't tell you anything more." Itachi finished his explanation.

Naruto sat there mulling over all the new information he'd just heard.

"I'm going to ask Pain if he can teach me another technique." Naruto said before jumping up and sprinting out of the room. Itachi merely looked up and smirked before folding up the scroll he was looking at, and walking out of the room, heading the way Naruto had.

Naruto ran into the meeting room, not even registering Sasori and Kisame conversing in a corner.

He scanned the room briefly before finding what he was looking for. Pain and Konan were sitting in the centre of the room, engaged in light conversation.

"Hey!" They stopped talking and looked towards Naruto, who was currently standing in front of them. "Pain, do you think I've advanced enough to learn another Rinnegan technique?" Naruto practically begged. Pain merely looked at him, before saying. "Yes, I'll show you another technique. I have an assignment for you first however. I'll teach you when you return." Naruto looked shocked for a moment, before nodding.

Itachi had entered the room.

"Kisame, Sasori, Itachi. Now that Orochimaru is gone, we need another member, Sasori's new partner. I've heard about a group of Insurgents near the border of Hi no Kuni. There's not many of them, I'd say 10 maximum. But there's one member who caught my eye, his name is Deidara, he's a missing-nin from Iwagakure, he stole one of their forbidden techniques and left, killing anyone who tried to stop him. I want you three to go there and convince him to join us, if you can't, kill him." Pain explained.

"I also want you to take Naruto and report to me how he fares in battle." He added.

"Hey! What?" Naruto could only complain as Kisame dragged him out of the room.

**4 Hours Later:**

Kisame, Sasori, Itachi and Naruto had been travelling fast, although they still had another 6 hours of travelling to do.

Naruto was at the back of the group, having trouble keeping up with the others.

"Naruto." Itachi had dropped back to speak with him. "I need you to be prepared for this assignment." He said simply.

"Why? What's going to happen?" Naruto questioned, slightly worried.

"You may have to kill people again." Naruto was shocked, but carried on running, not wanting to be left behind.

'_These guys are terrorists though, I need to stop worrying about this, I won't have to kill anyone who hasn't done something wrong or is an enemy ninja. I know I could be killed during every battle I have and they know that as well.'_ Naruto came to his conclusion, before nodding and carrying on running.

Itachi nodded as well before speeding up, returning to his previous position. _'So he finally understands what it means to be a ninja, I was hoping I'd not have to tell him that this is what being a ninja is, looks like I won't have to.' _Itachi smirked briefly before returning to his impassive expression.

**6 Hours Later:**

The group were currently stationed outside the Insurgent camp, an abandoned temple.

"It seems Leader-sama's Intel was right, there are only 9 of them out here, but I can sense what seems to be the strongest one inside the temple. The people down there don't even seem to be ninjas, just ignorant fools who want to destroy things." Sasori told them.

"Well, that's given us the clear advantage. Naruto, we'll leave them up to you." Itachi said, noticing Naruto's change in demeanour, a cold expression plastered across his face.

'_That's a new face; he must have done some serious thinking on the way here, I'm glad to see he understands what he must do.'_ Itachi thought.

'_I know what I have to do now; I wanted to be a ninja. I may not live very long in this kind of life, but I can't afford to give my opponents an advantage and show them I'm afraid. I've just got to get on with it; they know the risks as well.'_ Naruto thought, his cold expression remaining on his face.

"Take care of them." Sasori said, stepping back. "Once you've got their attention, we'll go in and find Deidara."

Naruto just nodded before stepping forward and performing two hand seals, shouting "**Doton: Yomi Numa!**"

The terrorists, who were currently sitting around a small fire in their camp, felt a large rumble before they were pulled into the sludge that had somehow replaced the ground they were sitting on.

4 of them managed to escape the swap before the Jutsu released, hardening it, instantly killing the 5 caught in it.

They were looking around for the attacker, when a kunai flew from the undergrowth, striking one of them in the neck. The man who'd been struck merely looked down and noticed the implement wedged into his neck. He struggled for breath before he fell to his knees, one hand grasping at the wound, the other held up looking for help from his comrades. One of them reacted whilst the others just stood there, shocked at what they'd seen. The man had already died before his friend could reach him.

"Wow, that's cold." Kisame joked, getting a glare from Sasori; Itachi's eyes remained focused on the carnage taking place in front of him.

"Where are you?! Come out Coward!" One of the terrorists shouted. Naruto merely stepped out from the bushes and started walking towards him.

"Let's go, he's got their attention." Sasori told Itachi and Kisame, they merely nodded, heading for the temple at the head of the camp.

Naruto stopped in front of the 3 remaining terrorists.

"What the hell! It's only a kid." One of them shouted, running at him, attempting a punch.

"No, you idiot!" The oldest of the three shouted at him.

Naruto ran through some hand seals before shouting "**Katon: Karyū Endan**". Breathing out a steady stream of fire, he heard the screams of the terrorist and stopped the Jutsu.

The terrorist didn't know what hit him; first he'd been running at a little kid, now he was on the ground screaming in pain as his flesh bubbled and cracked from the searing heat.

Naruto was tempted to throw up right then and there. He held his composure though, determined to finish what he'd started.

He walked past the still smoking corpse of the terrorist who had run at him. The smells of burning flesh making him gag.

"Heh, you're not as experienced as you want us to think you are." The oldest Insurgent spoke again.

"That doesn't matter." Naruto stated glaring at the man; he'd stopped about 5 metres from the corpse. His cold eyes holding the older man's gaze.

'_What the hell is wrong with eyes? Who is this boy, he doesn't seem any older than 13, but he has just killed 7 of us. Although he clearly hasn't killed many people before, he seems determined.' _He thought.

There wasn't a chance for another thought as Naruto had just finished another set of hand seals and called out "**Fūton: Shinkūgyoku**". He spat the pellets of wind out at a reasonable pace, each one with enough force to break a rib.

The Wind bullets peppered the older man, he cried out in pain as he felt his bones shatter from the force of them. He collapsed to the ground in agony. His eyesight was blurry and he couldn't catch his breath. He made out the faint outline of his last comrade attempting to run away. He tried to call out, telling him to stop, he realized he couldn't as his mouth filled with blood and he began choking. _'Shit...'_ was his last thought as he passed away.

Naruto merely performed some more hand signs before calling out "**Raiton: Jibashi**"; he imbued the attack with enough chakra to slice through solid rock. The Jutsu struck the man trying to run away in the back, passing straight through him, killing him instantaneously.

Naruto collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily. He was dry heaving, thinking about what he'd just done, he took a glance up. The first thing he noticed was the body of the older man, blood seeping from his nose, a shocked look in his eyes. He looked around and caught sight of the charred remains of a terrorist, he took a deep breath, embracing the carnage, knowing he needed to get used to this kind of thing. He slowly stood up and had a good look around this time. His eyes caught every grim detail, a bone poking through the flesh of the older man, the cracked flesh of the burnt man. He took another deep breath, before making his way to the entrance of the camp; he decided to wait there for the others.

Kisame, Itachi and Sasori soon came out of the temple with Deidara in tow.

"What the hell is this?" Deidara asked, noticing the dead bodies and large brown stain on the ground, the grass seemed to have died there.

"Heh, looks like the kid pulled through." Kisame said to himself.

Itachi merely nodded, while Sasori didn't even seem to register the comment.

They noticed Naruto leaning near a tree near the entrance of the camp, his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"This kid killed everyone back there?!" The 15 year old Deidara shouted.

Itachi merely nodded, while Naruto's eyes shot open, he caught sight of Deidara and just nodded.

'_He's clearly mentally exhausted, but this has helped him advance by leaps and bounds, at least he's accepted what he has to do.'_ Itachi thought to himself.

"Hn, let's go then." Deidara said.

The journey back to Amegakure was mostly silent, Kisame mainly making stupid jokes, at Deidara's expense.

They entered the complex, to find Pain waiting for them in the foyer.

"So you've decided to join us then?" Pain asked Deidara.

Deidara nodded, Pain gestured for him to go and sit down.

"And Naruto? How was he?" Pain asked.

"Fine, he cleared the camp easily, he seems exhausted though." Itachi told him.

Pain just nodded. "Very well, I'll train him tomorrow."

Naruto had already left and headed up to his room. He walked in the door and collapsed onto his bed.

"Naruto?" Sakura shouted from the bathroom.

She strolled out and found him sleeping soundly.

She giggled at this "He must have been exhausted." She said to herself before returning to the scrolls she was studying at her desk.

Naruto woke up 2 hours later, feeling refreshed, he'd already accepted what he'd done earlier, he decided not to dwell on it. He looked up and found Sakura sitting at her desk, reading a scroll.

"Hey, Sakura, what're you doing?" He asked her. She jumped at the sound of his voice, before turning to face him.

"Oh this?" She gestured to the scroll, he nodded. "It's just a medical Jutsu scroll Konan told me to read." She told him.

He stood up and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and leaning over to read what was on the scroll, she blushed at his actions.

"Ah medical Jutsus, how are you coming along with that?" He asked her, still reading the scroll.

"It's going well, Konan-sensei is teaching me about poisons, I can heal most external wounds now. I'm currently focusing on healing internal injuries and extracting poisons as well." Sakura said.

He just nodded and backed away, sitting down on his bed, before jumping up suddenly.

"Oh! That's right; Pain said he'd teach me another Rinnegan technique when we got back." Naruto made a run for the door.

"Um, Naruto, maybe you should rest, you travelled for 20 hours straight almost, aren't you tired?" She asked him, hearing about his mission from Konan.

"I am a bit tired." Naruto said, looking at the clock, it was 9:00 in the morning. "Yea...I suppose I can sleep for a bit." He lay down on his bed, quickly falling asleep.

**3 Hours Later:**

"Naruto, get up"

Naruto stirred in his bed, slowly opening his eyes, he saw Konan standing in the doorway.

"Pain wants to see you, I suggest you don't keep him waiting" She told him, closing the door.

Naruto jumped out of his bed, noticing he was already dressed. He quickly ran to the bathroom, splashing some water on his face and furiously brushing his teeth.

He ran out of the room down to the main meeting room. He saw Pain leaning over the balcony railing, looking out across the village like he usually did.

"Naruto, I've got something for you." Pain told him. Naruto merely walked towards him.

"Here." He held out his hand. "It's an Amegakure hitai-ate, put it on." He told Naruto.

Naruto merely took it from him, and put it on his forehead, tying it up at the back.

"You haven't been to the Academy here, but you're far stronger than any of the Genin, Chuunin and some Jounin here. Regardless, you still need to show which village you are affiliated with. Your friend Sakura will also receive one today from Konan." Pain said.

Naruto rubbed his hand across the forehead protector, feeling the 4 lines carved into it. He grinned brightly before asking. "Is that all you wanted me for?"

"No, I said I'd teach you another Rinnegan technique, follow me." Pain told him. They both stepped out into one of the training grounds.

"Stand here" Pain said to Naruto, he pointed at the ground. Naruto did as he was told.

Pain walked towards a boulder that was sat in the centre of the training ground, he placed a smaller rock on it, and walked about 15 steps away from it.

He looked towards and called out "**Banshō Ten'in**", the rock was pulled towards him, and he grabbed it in his outstretched hand.

"This technique is called **Banshō Ten'in**, it's the accompanying Jutsu of **Shinra Tensei**, but instead of pushing things away it pulls them towards you. As you can see, it's slightly more refined than **Shinra Tensei**, if I'd put more chakra into the technique, I could have easily pulled that boulder towards me. Now, I want you to try it." Pain told Naruto.

"Make a **Kage Bunshin** and have it stand about 12 metres away from you." Naruto did so. "Now focus chakra to your eyes and palm, but instead of forcing it away, think about pulling it towards you. Like a vacuum." He advised.

Naruto tried the technique, only for nothing to happen.

"Try it again; put more chakra into the technique this time." Pain said.

Naruto tried it once more, forcing out quite a large amount of chakra, the **Kage Bunshin **felt an immense pulling and was pulled straight towards Naruto, and it crashed into him and dispersed in a poof of smoke.

Naruto was currently on the ground muttering to himself about stupid **Kage Bunshins**.

"Hmm, you put too much chakra into it that time; you'll have to practice it a lot to be able to use at an acceptable level. Do that in battle and you'll kill yourself." Pain told him.

"There's one more thing I want to show you, I don't know if you've figured it out." He stepped forward and pulled a Kunai from his Akatsuki cloak, he placed it in the palm of his hand. Naruto watched as it appeared to vibrate before launching towards the boulder from Pain's palm.

"Eh? But you didn't even throw it" Naruto said.

"I'd have thought that to be obvious. I used **Shinra Tensei**; it requires a great deal of practice and concentration to be able to do something like that with it though. I suggest you work on **Banshō Ten'in** for now." Pain told him.

Naruto just nodded as Pain walked back inside.

Naruto created another **Kage Bunshin** and got to work on practicing **Banshō Ten'in**.

**A Year Later:**

Naruto was sat at the desk in his and Sakura's room. His technique journal open in front of him, he now knew almost 5 Jutsu of each element. He was adding his latest addition at the moment.

**Journal:**

**Suiton: Suigadan **

This Jutsu creates a circle of crushing water spikes around the target. It's hard to evade, but there has to be a sufficient water source around, preferably below the target.

**End of Journal.**

Naruto had also been getting some advanced Taijutsu training from Kisame; he didn't know any styles just some more advanced manoeuvres. Kisame had said due to his natural affinity with Ninjutsu and the techniques of the Rinnegan, becoming proficient in Taijutsu would be useless, although if he ever did face an experienced Taijutsu master in battle he'd need to be careful.

He'd made some progress with **Banshō Ten'in**, going so far as to steal various items that belonged to Deidara, much to his chagrin and Kisame's joy.

He wouldn't say it's mastered yet; he still put too little or too much chakra, only ever getting it perfect a couple of times.

He decided that he'd only use it if he was fighting a long range fighter.

He and Sakura had gotten closer over this year, their training not as ferocious as it had been; they had more time to spend together. They quite often spoke about their days, sitting in their room.

Konan had mentioned something to Sakura about telling Naruto how she really feels, but she'd brushed it off, telling her there's nothing to hide.

Naruto had thought about telling Sakura how he feels, but figured it'd throw her off her training, he decided he'd wait until they were entered in Akatsuki, when they didn't have to worry about people constantly breathing down their necks. Unsurprisingly, Sakura had thought the exact same thing.

Naruto formed a **Kage Bunshin** and decided he'd practice **Banshō Ten'in **for the rest of the day.

The 13 year old sat on his bed, tired from a hard day's training, his mind drifting back to all the people he'd met in Konoha.

"I wonder how Kakashi and Jiraiya are." He thought aloud.

"I'm sure they're fine, as well as Hokage-sama." He jumped at the sound of Sakura's voice, not realizing she was there.

"Heh, yea, me too, what about Ino and your mother. Don't you wonder how they are?" He asked her, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"I wonder about my Mom all the time. I don't have to wonder about Ino being okay. I know she is; I'm sure they're all having fun in the academy." Sakura told him.

"Yeah..." Naruto looked out the window sadly. "But I prefer being here, with you. Getting stronger together." He told her.

She blushed for a moment, before happily smiling. "Me too!"

(A/N: Short time skip I know, sorry!)

**A Year Later:**

On Pain's advice, Naruto hadn't been taught any new Jutsu. He'd been practically ordered to master all the Jutsu he currently knew.

They were coming along nicely; he was still having a bit of trouble with **Banshō Ten'in**, but he'd got it down so he could pull smaller things, not Pain's level yet though.

Most of his elemental Jutsus had been completed. He was still having trouble maintaining enough concentration for **Fūton: Shinkūgyoku**, but the pellets he could fire now were a lot more refined, and could travel through 3 walls instead of 2 now at full power.

He'd also noticed the effects of puberty, apparently it started 2 years ago, but he hadn't taken any notice back then. Sakura had mentioned that his voice had been getting deeper, and that he was getting taller.

He also began to notice certain things about her, although he wouldn't say anything, knowing she'd probably kill him.

He strolled through the complex, into the meeting room. He'd been told to go there at 9:00 for an assignment to evaluate his skills.

He saw Kakuzu talking to Pain and walked over to them.

"Kakuzu! Long time no see" Naruto shouted.

Kakuzu merely turned and glared at Naruto. "Don't talk to me like that, child."

"Eeeeehhhh."

"Enough." Pain ordered, they were both silent immediately.

"Naruto, you and Sakura will be going with Kakuzu to seek out an intriguing person; he shall be the 9th member of Akatsuki." Pain told him. "His name is Hidan; apparently he killed several people in Yugakure before fleeing the village and joining up with some kind of cult."

"Yugakure, I've never heard of such a place." Naruto said.

"That's not surprising, they don't really train ninjas anymore, and it's more like a place for traveller's to stop now." Pain told him. "Exercise extreme caution, from what I've heard he can't be killed. I don't believe it, but I know he's very strong. It will be a good test for you and Sakura."

Naruto just nodded, knowing he didn't have a say in the matter. Just then, Sakura and Konan walked through the door.

"Konan, I trust you've told the girl of her mission." Pain asked.

Konan just nodded. Sakura had already walked forwards and was currently engaging Naruto in light conversation.

"Will they be alright?" Konan asked Pain quietly.

"I'm sure they will be fine, Kakuzu is accompanying them. Originally, I was only going to send Kakuzu, but I realised this would be the perfect opportunity to test Naruto and Sakura for when they join Akatsuki properly." Pain reassured her.

"Let's go." Kakuzu said. Not bothering to wait for a reply, he walked out of the door and into Amegakure.

Naruto and Sakura quickly caught up with him. "So where is this Hidan guy?" Naruto asked.

Kakuzu snorted at the friendliness in Naruto's tone. '_I remember that time he killed those 6 bandits, it's like he's a completely different person in battle.' _Kakuzu thought.

"I've heard talk of him being near Kusagakure, he's travelling alone it seems. He's in some kind of cult that worships a god of Murder called Jashin, other than that I don't know anything." Kakuzu told them. "It'll take 5 hours to get there, travelling at normal pace."

Kakuzu shot from the spot he'd been standing in, Naruto and Sakura not far behind.

**5 Hours Later:**

The trio had entered Kusagakure and asked around if anyone had seen anything suspicious, they had no luck. One person had even had the audacity to tell them "Not until I saw you three." Unsurprisingly, things hadn't gone well from that point and they had to leave Kusagakure shortly afterwards, in fear of somebody finding the body.

Currently, they were searching around the forest surrounding the village for any trace of Hidan.

Sakura hit pay dirt when she found a band of slaughtered bandits, she'd gotten used to dead bodies, having been forced to practice some of her more vicious medical techniques on them. She'd only killed twice before, both while out on missions with Konan, the first one had shaken her badly, but Naruto had helped her through it. The second time she'd kept hidden from Naruto, fearing that if she told him what the man she'd killed had said he was going to do to her, would make Naruto find his corpse and brutalise it. She didn't like killing but she knew it had to be done. She was glad that Naruto realised this as well.

She had called Naruto and Kakuzu to the spot. Kakuzu noticed a blood trail leading away from the carnage. He suggested they follow it.

They'd been following the trail for about 5 minutes, before Kakuzu shot his arm out, indicating for them to stop. He nodded his head once, causing Naruto and Sakura to look in the direction he was facing.

They saw a man sitting down, his top thrown to the side, he had a large gash across his chest, and he was currently unfurling a bandage to wrap around it.

"Do it." Kakuzu told them before shunshinning away.

Naruto glanced at Sakura, "Do you have a genjutsu or something that can hold in place for longer than 10 seconds?" he asked her, whispering. They were currently hidden in the undergrowth close to the man's camp.

"Of course not, I'm not that advanced, especially if Pain-sama wants him to join Akatsuki." Sakura told him.

"Well, how long can you hold him for do you think?" He replied.

"I'd say 3-4 seconds at max before he breaks it." She told him.

"That's good enough, if you stay here and perform the Genjutsu, I can attack from behind, I'll give you a signal once I'm in position." Naruto said, getting a nod from Sakura, he moved to a better location, he was now at the man's side, while Sakura faced his front. Naruto adjusted his forehead protector so the sunlight could shine off it. He knew Sakura would be smart enough to figure this was the signal.

Hidan had been oblivious to everything that was happening around him, until a flicker of light caught his eye. He stood up, grasping his scythe in one hand. He felt the Genjutsu take hold; he noticed he couldn't move anymore.

"What the fu...." His eyes widened as he saw a figure jump out of the bushes to his right, shooting through some hand seals.

"**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**" was all he heard before the fireball engulfed him, the genjutsu lifted shortly after.

Naruto stood there, wondering why there wasn't even a grunt of pain coming from his Jutsu. Sakura had run to his side, they were both looking into the fireball, trying to make out any shape they could. Naruto had focused chakra to his eyes, able to make out a different chakra signature than his own inside the fireball. What they saw when the Jutsu finally died was something they weren't expecting.

Hidan stood there, scythe held in his left hand, the thick cord attached to its handle wrapped up inside a container attached to his trousers. He was currently rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. Naruto and Sakura both noticed the strange pendant he had on, a circle with an upside down triangle inside it. There were burn marks all over his body but he didn't seem to care.

"Now what the fuck was that for?" He asked them.

Kakuzu stepped out of the undergrowth, not allowing Naruto to answer Hidan's question.

'_That was quite impressive, even though they only performed one Jutsu, the teamwork was fantastic, with that girl providing support and Naruto working on the offense, they will be quite a spectacular team.'_ Kakuzu thought.

"We want you to join Akatsuki." Kakuzu said simply.

Hidan merely looked on. "Akatsuki? I've never heard of it. I already follow Jashin-sama anyway; now I'm gonna fucking kill you all."

"Wait, you can still follow your God in our organization, we just need strong ninjas to help further our goals." Kakuzu told him.

"And what're these goals?" Hidan asked.

"If you accept my invitation, you'll find it." Kakuzu offered.

"Will I get to kill people?"

"Yes."

"Alright, lead the way."

'_What the hell?'_ was all Naruto and Sakura could think, they looked at each before shrugging.

"What about these kids?" Hidan asked.

"That was merely a test, for them and you." Kakuzu informed him. "You don't need to worry about it."

"Good, I wasn't planning to anyway." Hidan said.

**Amegakure:**

"Hidan, welcome" Pain spoke as Hidan and Kakuzu walked through the door. Naruto and Sakura walked in behind them.

""Who's this ass?" Hidan asked.

"I am the Leader of Akatsuki" Pain said, not even bothered by the insult. "I take it by your being here; you've decided to join us?" He asked.

Hidan merely nodded. "As long as I get to please Jashin-sama, I'll go where I want."

"I understand. Naruto, Sakura leave us." Pain told the two, who were currently standing patiently behind Hidan and Kakuzu, they merely nodded before leaving.

"And how did they perform?" Pain asked Kakuzu.

"They caught Hidan off-guard, it was better than I expected." Kakuzu told him.

"Hey! Fuck you." Hidan shouted.

Pain just nodded, clearly pleased with this turn of events.

**A Year Later:**

Naruto had spent the past year practicing Taijutsu with Kisame and Hidan. He'd also learnt two more Jutsu to add to his arsenal.

**Journal:**

**Raiton: Ikazuchi Hakai **

The user places his hands to the ground after converting their chakra in to lightning. The user then sends an enormous bolt of electricity that cuts through the ground in the direction of the target. The shape of the bolt is a triangular with the base in the direction of the user and the tip headed towards the target. It causes devastating destruction on its way and generates enough heat and power to destroy whatever it comes into contact with.

The hand seals are: Ox – Rabbit – Ram – Dog – Monkey.

**Doton: Ganban Kyū**

The user forces two large pillars to appear from the ground and crush the opponent.

The hand seals are odd; you form a fist with your right hand and cover the fist with your left hand.

**End of Journal.**

He'd spent a week learning **Doton: Ganban Kyū**, he found it easy to form the pillars and force them together.

He'd had a little trouble with **Raiton: Ikazuchi Hakai**, he couldn't seem to convert his chakra to lightning as quickly as he'd hoped, he decided if he had to use before he'd mastered it, it'd be done when he had someone else covering him, like most of his large scale elemental jutsus.

He'd also been practicing **Shinra Tensei **and **Banshō Ten'in**, he discovered he could use **Banshō Ten'in **then **Shinra Tensei**, to say the attack was formidable was an understatement.

Naruto was currently sitting outside in his Pain's personal training ground. It was situated behind the others and was around 3 times the size of an average training ground.

"Naruto." He glanced up from his seated position and noticed two people walking towards, one of them was Pain, the other was a person he didn't recognize, however they did have the same kind of facial piercings as Pain.

"Is this a new member?" Naruto asked, noticing he was wearing an Akatsuki cloak. The man had dark orange hair, with a single bang that covered parts of the right side of his slim line face.

"No, I have something to explain to you." Pain said simply.

So Pain sat there and explained his Six Paths technique, the discussion lasting well over an hour.

"So you're telling me, these 2 bodies here are being controlled by you, from somewhere?" Naruto asked confusion clear in his voice.

"Yes, and like I've said there are 4 others. I'll show you them in due time. You will tell no-one about this." Pain told him.

Naruto nodded at the order, fearing what would happen if he mentioned it to anyone.

"Do I have to use that technique to use the Rinnegan properly?" Naruto asked him.

"No, there were some...circumstances that led to me using this. You won't have to." Pain explained.

"So what 'Paths' are these?" Naruto questioned.

"This is Deva Path, it focuses on **Shinra Tensei **and **Banshō Ten'in**, the next one is Animal Path, you'll see what it can do now." Pain told him.

"There are 3 other Rinnegan techniques I still want to teach you, I'll show you one now. It'll take a lot of practice to master, but once you do it'll give you a huge advantage in battle." Deva Path added.

Naruto sat there for a moment; absorbing all the information he'd just been told.

A minute or two passed before Naruto nodded, signalling for the Deva Path to continue his explanation.

The Animal Path stepped forward, nipping and ran through some hand seals. He slammed his hand down onto the ground and shouted out "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**". Naruto watched as a strange seal spread out, then an enormous puff of smoke.

The smoke dispersed and Naruto's jaw dropped. Standing before him was the Animal Path with a giant Rhino behind him. He noticed it had Rinnegan eyes and a number of body piercings.

"What the hell?" was all Naruto could say.

It took him a moment to regain his composure, the Animal Path looking at him with an impassive expression on his face, as if expecting the question he was about to ask.

"It has the Rinnegan? And those piercings? Are you controlling it?" He asked.

The Animal Path shook his head. "No, the piercings have allowed me to force my chakra into its circulatory system, and force it to submit to my will. The Rinnegan eyes are just a side effect of this. There are various other creatures like this. The piercings are also chakra receivers; you can issue them commands if you reach out with your chakra and connect with any of the receivers. It's the same method as my **Six Paths** technique, just nowhere near as advanced. It's also an immense advantage as you won't have to shout to them to tell them what to do in battle. Once you've formed a link with the creature, you won't need to do it again. When you summon it again, the link will be made automatically and you can command them straight away. Be warned that you'll have to do this with each summon. If you're confused as to why they'll obey you as well, it's because users of the Rinnegan have a certain chakra signature that only this material can identify." He said pointing at one his piercings. "There's an advanced contract I devised, I've already added your name to it, so you can now summon every animal I have under my command. Now I want you to try it. The hand seals are: Boar – Dog – Bird – Monkey – Ram." The Animal Path explained, dismissing the Rhino in the process.

Naruto sat there in there in a stupor. _'There are animals that size that I can CONTROL with my mind? That's awesome! But it sounds so hard to do. I guess I'm just going to have to try it.' _Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto stood up and nodded at Pain, looking around he noticed the Deva Path was nowhere to be seen, he thought nothing of it.

"Put as much chakra into the technique as you can." Pain advised before stepping back, waiting for Naruto.

Naruto nodded before running through the hand seals, slamming his hand on the ground and calling out "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**".

There was a large puff of smoke; Naruto could only look on excitedly. The expression on his face fell when he saw what he had summoned.

A Giant Panda sat in there centre of the training ground, while Naruto stood there, looking up at it, he pointed an accusatory finger.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! I wanted something awesome and all I got was this Panda?!" He roared.

Pain just looked at him, no expression his face at all. "That's a very useful summon, try to force your chakra into it and I'll show you."

Naruto did as he was told, focusing some chakra to his eyes and staring at one of the receivers on the Panda's back, he thought about the image of his chakra coming off his body and entering the receivers, trying to help along the process. He felt a sudden presence and looked up to see the Panda looking more alert than it had been, it still didn't move however.

"Impressive Naruto, now stand next to the left arm of the Summon." Pain said. Naruto did as he was told and stepped next to the Panda. "Now step back about 5 paces." Naruto just sighed and stepped back.

"Good. Now I'll show you what I meant earlier about controlling them mentally. Use the Summon to protect you." Pain told him, cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked; he didn't get an answer. He watched as Pain pulled several kunai from his robe and was preparing to throw them at him.

'_Shit, well it can't help to try.' _He thought as the kunai were thrown at him, he commanded the Panda to protect him, he closed his eyes, expecting it not to work and braced himself, ready for the pain. When it never came, he opened his eyes, and noticed a large arm in front of him; he looked to his left and noticed the Panda had shot its arm out to shield him from the kunai.

"I presume you ordered it to protect you?" Pain asked. Naruto nodded, still in awe of the creature. "Take a look at its arm." Naruto came around and looked at it.

"It has a rock like skin; it can defend you against kunai, senbon, and various other thrown weapons. Now you've formed a link with this particular summon, any time you summon it again, it will obey you without question." Pain explained.

Naruto nodded, before ordering the Panda to dispel itself.

"There are some things I'd like to tell you about summoned creatures. Most summonings require a blood offering, a bite to the thumb is usually acceptable. As these creatures are merely bound to my will, and soon yours, they require no such thing. Also, if the summons are injured enough in battle, they will dispel themselves on instinct. I want you to continue practicing it, there are 8 creatures all together. Once you've been able to summon all of them at least once, when you perform the Jutsu again, think of which one you want. Some of them specialise in attack, others defence. You need to figure out which is best for each situation. I will not be teaching you another technique until you can prove to me you're good enough for it." Animal Path explained, before walking back inside.

Naruto stretched for a moment before saying "Well, I may as well get started."

**A Week Later:**

Naruto had managed to summon 4 of the 8 creatures Pain had mentioned. He was currently sitting at his desk, adding the new discoveries to his Journal.

**Journal:**

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**

I can summon various creatures to aid me in combat, some of them are a bit unimpressive, but they are still very useful. Apparently there's 8 of them, I've only managed 4 of them so far.

**Giant Panda**

Mainly used for defence against thrown weapons, it also seems fairly resistant to some of the larger Jutsu. It's not invincible though, it seems it can't take more than 3 **Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu**, so I'll have to be wary of that. It can last ages against a barrage of kunai and senbon though.

**Giant Ram**

This thing is huge; it seems to be used for simple brute force attacks, forcing the opponent into a corner. It's nowhere near as resilient as the Panda though.

**Giant Rhino**

This Summon is another used for pure brute force, the horn can do a lot of damage, I figured that out after I made it charge into one of the training ground walls. I'd tried to say that because the Rhino did it, it wasn't technically my fault, I still had to fix the wall.

**Giant Centipede**

This summon seems to be used for distraction, it's very weak but it's reasonably fast. I doubt I'll use this summon very often.

**End of Journal.**

As he'd spent the last hour adding the notes to journal, Naruto decided he'd go and practice the Jutsu so more. He stood up, stretching his arms above his head. The door creaked open and he turned his head to see Sakura come walking in.

He had to say she looked a lot better now; she still wore her simple outfit, although the cycling shorts had been changed to Jounin pants and her shirt stopped just above the top of hips. She also wore standard ninja sandals. _'She looks great... wait, what am I thinking, I've got to go and train'. _Naruto thought.

Sakura had noticed Naruto's eyes gazing over her body, she blushed brightly before smiling at him. She walked towards her bed and sat down on the side of it, about to take off her shoes until Naruto plopped himself down next to her.

"Sakura-chan, train with me today." Naruto said. He slung his arm over her shoulder and grinned.

She looked up from pulling her sandals off and her eyes wandered over Naruto's body. He was still dressed the same he had been all those years ago. A black jumpsuit jacket, the exterior black, while the inside was a deep red, similar to the Akatsuki cloaks, she could see various pockets on the upper section of the top. He wore standard black Jounin pants, the same as hers. He also had ninja sandals on. _'He looks great, like a proper ninja, except very handsome.'___She thought, before mentally slapping herself and blushing.

"I suppose I can do that Naruto, I've finished my medical training with Konan-sensei for today." Sakura told him.

"Oh, how's that going anyway?" He asked, removing his arm from her shoulder.

"It's good, I've got some advanced medical Jutsus, I can heal almost any external wound, internal bleeding and other wounds like that are a bit harder, but with the right amount of concentration I can pull them off. I can utilise poison in battle as well as negate its effects. I also know various genjutsu. My **Doton** jutsus haven't really gotten any better." She replied.

"Wow Sakura-chan, that's great!" Naruto shouted, jumping up from the bed and pumping his fist. "We'll be a great team!"

She smiled fondly at that, "Yea, we will."

"Let's go train then!" Naruto said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out the door.

They went to the largest of the training grounds; Naruto had been using this one almost exclusively since learning the **Kuchiyose no Jutsu**.

"I'm going to work on my summoning. What about you?" He asked her.

"I'm going to perfect the few **Doton** jutsus I know, like I said I haven't really had time to work on them." Sakura told him.

"Alright, I'll be over here." Naruto pointed to a spot about 15 metres away.

She decided to observe this summoning technique she'd heard so much about. She watched him run through the hand seals and slam his hand onto the ground. She looked on in awe, unable to take in the sight before her. A huge Lobster had appeared in the training ground in front of Naruto. He just stood there like nothing was wrong.

'_Wow, no wonder he was so excited when he told me about it. This is amazing.' _Sakura thought, Naruto had explained the specifics of the technique to her, such as the Rinnegan eyes and being able to command them. He didn't mention how he could control them though. She decided not to bug him about it though, since he would have told her if he'd been allowed.

Naruto stood there, he'd already formed the link with the Crustacean, the familiar presence and sudden alertness of the summon telling him it was successful. He hoped this summon had some kind of technique it could use. He decided to make it use any technique it had, he stepped back to where Sakura was standing and waited.

A moment later, a huge wave of bubbles exploded from the mouth of the Crustacean. Naruto and Sakura looked on shocked. Naruto not expecting it to have any techniques, Sakura not expecting any kind of summon to be able to perform Jutsu.

The wave of bubbles subsided, and the Crustacean shuffled around for a moment, before it stopped moving altogether.

"Well, that was pretty damn impressive." Naruto said, Sakura nodding along furiously.

"I didn't expect your summonings to be that size and do that kind of thing!" Sakura shouted.

"Heh, what can I say, I'm unpredictable." Naruto retorted.

Sakura just nodded before turning her gaze back to the huge lobster sitting in front of her.

Naruto stood in front of the lobster, analyzing it.

"It looks physically weak, but that attack it just performed, that seems quite powerful, it could be good to throw enemies off, or even as some kind of smokescreen." Naruto thought aloud.

"Perhaps if you can summon it before a battle, you can make full use of it." Sakura suggested.

Naruto was shocked by Sakura's sudden advice, he'd forgotten she was there, too focused on the giant Lobster.

"That's a good idea, but it'd be hard to pull off, I'd have to know exactly where and how the battle will begin." He told her.

She nodded. "But if the opportunity ever arises, I'll be sure to take advantage of it, thanks Sakura-chan!" He shouted.

She merely smiled and blushed, before turning away and starting to practice her **Doton** jutsu.

Naruto merely dismissed the Crustacean, making a mental note to add it his Journal later. He strolled over to where Sakura was working and decided to watch her train.

**2 Hours Later:**

Naruto and Sakura had left the training ground and currently discussing where they should get dinner.

"Let's have some Ramen, we haven't had that for so long." Naruto complained.

"What? We had it last week, be quiet." Sakura told him.

They'd quite often get dinner together, neither thinking anything of the occasional odd look and smile from the villagers.

"Let's get some Soba noodles then." Naruto suggested. Sakura thought on this for a moment before agreeing.

They walked into the small restaurant, being shown to their table.

A waitress soon came over and asked their orders, paying plenty of attention to Naruto's, much to Sakura's chagrin.

"I'll have the Kitsune Soba please." Naruto told her. She nodded slightly, writing the order down on her notepad. She turned to Sakura.

"I'll take the Sansai Soba." Sakura said. The waitress nodded, writing the order down and strolling back into the kitchen.

"Heh, this is nice" Naruto said, whilst looking at Sakura, she nodded, blushing lightly.

10 minutes later, the waitress had returned with their meals. Naruto was eating in his usual furious manner, making as much noise as possible. He complained they were hot and in the intake of air cooled them down. Sakura just shook her head before laughing and digging into her noodles.

At around 8:30, half an hour after Naruto and Sakura had entered the restaurant, Naruto had called for the bill and he and Sakura were on their way back to the complex. They were walking down the street when suddenly Naruto scooped Sakura up in his arms and run up the side of the closest building.

Before she could question his actions, he'd already started speaking.

"There's something I want to show you."

They landed on top of the building and Naruto set Sakura back on her feet, grabbing her hand, he carried on running until they reached what seemed like the edge of the village.

"Well, what is it" She asked him as sternly as she could, truth be told she was really very excited.

"Look." He said, pointing back the way they'd come.

She turned around and faced the village; her breath was taken away by the view. It was dark and the lights lit up the village like some kind of fireworks show, the various skyscrapers littering the horizon merely added to the beauty of it, she could see people going about their business on the various levels of the city, the lights reflecting off the damp ground only amplified the feeling of awe she gained from simply looking out across the city at night.

"Heh, nice isn't it? I used to come up here quite a lot when we'd just arrived, wondering if I made the right decision." Naruto explained.

"But how did you find this?" Sakura asked him, her eyes still surveying the city.

"I was exploring one evening when I just came across it; it took my breath away so I decided to make frequent visits." He told her.

'_This is perfect, I could tell him right now and not have to worry about anything.'_ Sakura thought to herself.

"It's beautiful Naruto." She said. He grinned upon hearing this, folding his arms behind his head.

"Naruto...there's something I've got to tell you" She began.

'_Ah, that's no good, I wanted to go first.' _Naruto thought.

"Don't Sakura, not yet." He said, shocking her, he merely looked at her shocked expression and burst out laughing. "Next year, on my 16th birthday, we'll come up here and I'll make dinner! There's something I've got to tell you as well. It'll be a surprise!" He finished with a grin on his face.

Sakura stood there for a moment, before a shy smile crept across her face, she nodded, before saying "It's getting late; let's head back to the complex."

Naruto just nodded before they both jumped down onto one of the lower rooftops, deciding to run back to the complex.

When they entered their room, Naruto quickly sat down at his desk, opening his journal, whilst Sakura merely climbed into her bed and drifted to sleep.

**Journal:**

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**

**Giant Crustacean**

I can't tell what kind of animal this is; it could be a lobster or something completely unheard of. It's the only one I've managed to summon that can use Jutsu, it fires a huge stream of bubbles from its mouth, me and Sakura devised that it could be used for distraction and some kind of smokescreen.

**End of Journal.**

Naruto had spent the next day, messing around with the Giant Crustacean's jutsu, figuring out its weaknesses and strengths; he had discovered that while it wasn't a very potent attack, it could be used for a lot longer than most other Jutsus.

**A Year Later:**

Naruto had spent the last year going on various missions with Sakura and Konan, just to gain some battle experience, he had killed people again and so had Sakura. Naruto had closed himself off from the feeling of sickness and guilt. Soon after he could kill a man and he would feel nothing. As if he was a cold killing-machine on the battlefield, Pain had told him and Sakura that this is what most ninjas are like when they are in combat. Sakura took a little while longer, but soon she also became a different person on the field. She green eyes dulled as she stabbed a man in the throat, his blood gushing out all over her hand, a year ago she'd have wanted to vomit and cry, now she felt nothing.

"You need to kill your sense of self every time you enter a battle, just don't let that feeling consume you, or you'll become a shell of the ninja you used to be, living only for the thrill of killing someone." Pain explained.

Neither of the two seemed that affected by killing people, they had accepted that it was something they'd have to do as ninjas, it was just hard to do so.

Naruto had also summoned all 8 of the creatures Pain had mentioned. He was currently adding the latest discovered technique to his journal.

**Journal:**

**Giant Drill-Beaked Bird**

It looks really weird; it has 3 wings and legs. Shouldn't judge a book by its cover though, its ferocious beak seems like it can do a lot of damage if enough velocity is gained during one of its dives. I recently discovered a technique it has; it can lay eggs that explode when I want them to. It's an incredibly useful ability, but they aren't exactly easy to conceal and summoning the bird itself will attract a lot of attention. It'll probably be used for setting traps before a fight.

**Giant Multi-Headed Dog**

This little bastard is a pain to control, it has 10 heads. If it's attacked with a dangerous enough attack, it can split itself up and each head can attack as one, having 10 dogs at a time to control is difficult, I need a lot more practice before I can use it properly. I'll have to experiment with 2 heads and then move up.

**Giant Snake-Tailed Chameleon **

This is my favourite summon, it has to blend in with its surrounding's perfectly. Pain told me it's possible for me to climb inside its mouth and attack from there. I took it into consideration and decided that if something terrible was to happen then extreme situations call for extreme measures. Otherwise, there's no way in hell I'm climbing inside that thing's mouth!

**End of Journal.**

It was getting close to Naruto's 16th birthday; he hadn't forgotten what he'd said to Sakura last year about making some kind of dinner to celebrate. It was only now when he realized he didn't know how to cook that he began worrying.

He stood in the centre of their room, pacing up and down, trying to think of something to cook, when the door opened, he was surprised to see Itachi standing there.

"Naruto, Leader-sama wants to see us. Come with me." He said simply before walking off. Naruto quickly ran out of his room to catch up with him.

"Do you know what about?" Naruto asked.

Itachi merely shook his head.

The two of them stepped into meeting room, noticing Pain and Konan conversing in the centre.

Pain turned to face them, "Itachi, stay here with Konan, I need to speak with Naruto privately. Come Naruto." He gestured to the door leading to the training grounds and began walking, Naruto was slightly behind.

They reached one of the smaller training grounds, Naruto noticed two other men were already there waiting for him. The closest one looked quite stocky; he had facial piercings and dark orange hair with a small ponytail at the back. Naruto then took a look at the other man, he also had facial piercings and appeared to be very tall, he had long dark orange hair which reached down just below his shoulder blades. They both wore Akatsuki cloaks.

'_2 Paths? I wonder what techniques these ones use.'_ Naruto thought.

"Naruto." The stocky man stepped forward. "This is the Preta path, it utilizes the more advanced defensive techniques of the Rinnegan, and you're going to learn the most useful one." The Preta Path explained.

Naruto just nodded, waiting for an example.

"I want you to attack me with any kind of Ninjutsu" He said simply.

Naruto looked on, shocked by demand.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked.

"Do it." Preta Path commanded.

Naruto gulped before running through some hand seals and calling "**Raiton: Jibashi**", aiming directly for him.

He watched as a strange barrier appeared the Preta Path, the lightning attacking seemingly disappearing as he remained unharmed.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto asked.

"It's a barrier you can project to absorb almost any ninjutsu, there are a certain few that can get through it, however I'm sure you won't encounter those. There's also one other disadvantage, it drains chakra at an exponential rate, so you must use it wisely. I'll explain how to use it now: You must first focus chakra into your eyes and hold your arms out in front of you, then when you force your chakra out, creating a small detection barrier. Once you feel the attack hit, increase your output of chakra in that area of the barrier and the attack will be absorbed. Try and form the barrier now. I shall be back in a moment." Preta Path said, walking back inside the complex.

Naruto stood there for a moment, going over the instructions in his head.

He held his arms out and focused a large amount of chakra to his eyes; he felt a strange feeling overcome him as he noticed a strong blue aura surrounding him. He quickly released the Jutsu and tried once more, getting it right the second time as well.

The Preta Path soon returned with Itachi in tow.

"Naruto, prepare yourself." Preta Path said before turning to Itachi. "Do it now".

Itachi merely nodded before speeding through some hand seals. Naruto noticed this and quickly set up his barrier in time to hear "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**", the fireball came flying towards him, he felt it strike the barrier and immediately focused as much chakra as he could to the point of impact. The Fireball was seemingly sucked into the aura surrounding him. He looked around for a moment before cheering.

Itachi looked on, impassive expression on his face, but inside he was wondering how the hell Naruto had managed to do something like that.

'_It's seems he's advanced at an incredible rate while I was gone.'_ Itachi thought.

"Impressive, Naruto. Itachi you may leave." Preta Path said.

Itachi nodded; a bit peeved that he'd been called away from an assignment just to test something.

"You've grown a lot faster than I expected Naruto, I'm surprised." Pain told him. "There's another technique I want to teach you. This is the Human Path," the taller man stepped forward, "It utilises one of the two interrogation techniques available to users of the Rinnegan. Let me show you." Preta Path walked back into the complex leaving Naruto with the Human Path.

The Human Path walked over to Naruto and placed a hand on his head; he closed his eyes and gathered chakra to his palm.

Naruto felt remarkably lightheaded for a moment, before collapsing to his knees.

"Urgh, what is that technique?" He managed to groan out.

"You're worried about what to cook for that girl for some kind of celebration" Pain answered.

Naruto had a look of shock plastered across his face.

"How did you know that?! Have you been watching me?" Naruto questioned, a hint of anger in his voice. Pain merely shook his head. Realisation dawned on Naruto a moment later

"You can read my mind? How?" He asked.

"When I placed my hand on your head a moment ago, I forced my chakra into your brain, thus allowing me access to your thoughts and memories." Pain explained. "I wanted to show you this technique, I doubt you'll have the chance to use it, but I'll explain how it works. You must place your hand onto your target's head, you then focus chakra to your palm, and force it into the target's brain. You must maintain contact at all times for it to work." He finished.

"I have a question." Naruto said.

Pain merely nodded.

"What would happen if I had the chakra barrier up and someone tried to punch through it?" He asked.

"You can momentarily drain their chakra, but the attack will pass through, it absorbs Ninjutsu only." Pain explained.

Naruto just nodded, he didn't have any idea he could do that but he had to make sure it looked like that was the answer he was expecting.

"You mentioned other techniques, will I learn those?" Naruto asked.

"You will not. Not unless I see that you truly deserve them." Pain answered.

"Eh?!" Naruto roared, quickly realising who he had just shouted at and covered his mouth with his hand.

"You may have gotten stronger, but until you've joined Akatsuki properly, and proven to me you aren't a wasted cause, you'll get no more training" Pain replied sternly.

Naruto could only nod sheepishly as Pain walked back into the complex.

Naruto formed a **Kage Bunshin** to help him master the Ninjutsu absorption technique Pain had just shown him.

**3 Days Later:**

Naruto had spent the last 3 days practicing his Absorption technique, trying larger and more destructive jutsu on it. He'd almost seriously injured himself several times, not forcing enough chakra into the point of impact or misjudging the speed of the jutsu.

He sat up in his room, today was his 16th birthday, he'd already prepared 2 bowls of Ramen, and he had decided to prepare Umeboshi and Anko Dumplings for dessert, knowing Sakura liked them.

He placed everything inside a small hamper and waited for Sakura to return from her daily training. The door opened and he saw her step in, she had a smile on her face, she'd obviously remembered what he'd said to her last year, she didn't have time to say hello. He quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room, not bothering to shut the door.

"Naruto, what?" She complained, looking up, only to see him grinning down at her, she couldn't help but smile back.

"You didn't forget did you?" He questioned, a smirk playing across his lips.

She just shook her head and waited for him to stop running; he was currently carrying her under one arm and had the hamper in his other.

He stopped shortly, the same place they had been last year. The village was lit up beautifully once again.

She rolled her eyes when he opened the hamper and gave her a bowl of Ramen.

"It's wonderful here isn't it?" She asked him.

Naruto could only nod, already stuffing his face with the noodles. She turned to face him and giggled a bit before beginning to eat her own.

They quickly finished and Naruto surprised Sakura by pulling out their desserts, she chose the Anko Dumplings while giving Naruto the Umeboshi, claiming he didn't eat enough fruit.

He harrumphed before devouring the small dried fruits, he didn't realise they would taste as good as this.

"I'm not surprised you like these Sakura-chan!" He managed to get out between mouthfuls.

She laughed at him before popping another dumpling into her mouth.

"They are good but here try one of these" She said, holding out a dumpling in her hand.

"Eh? Alright" Naruto said, leaning forward quickly and taking it from her hand with his teeth.

"I didn't mean like that, you idiot!" She said, pulling her hand back, a faint blush across her cheeks indicated she wasn't angry with him.

Naruto had finished 5 minutes later, Sakura was taking a bit longer; wanting to savour the food she hardly ever got to eat. Sure, she'd have dinner with Naruto as often as possible, but they hardly ever had time for dessert.

After they'd both finished, they sat there in a comfortable silence.

"Sakura..."

"Naruto..."

They both looked at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"I'll go first" Naruto said. "Ever since you came here with me, I felt something. I didn't figure out what it was until sometime later, but when I did figure it out, I knew that's what it was. Heh, alright this is hard for me, I don't know what to say." Naruto told her.

Sakura sat there. "JUST TELL ME" She roared when he stopped so suddenly.

Naruto gulped, fearing her wrath.

"Sakura, I love you." He said simply.

Sakura sat there, letting the feeling of euphoria wash over her. Naruto sat there, staring at her, wondering what she was going to do. He didn't expect to launch at him and kiss him passionately.

He was currently laying on his back, with Sakura lying on top of him, her head rest on his chest. He looked down at her and smiled, she was looking up at him.

"Don't you have something to tell me, you started last year but I didn't let you finish?" Naruto said, a teasing smile on his lips.

She punched him rather hard on the arm before getting off him and sitting up, looking out across the village; he joined her and sat next to her, his legs hanging off the edge of the building.

"I don't think I'd want to be anywhere else in world right now." She started.

"When we first met, I knew there was something special about you, it could have been how polite you were when you knocked me over in the street or it could have been your ridiculous personality and sense of humour." She laughed. He just grinned.

"But when you asked me to come with you, I had no trouble saying yes almost straight away, even though I'd be leaving everything behind. There was just something about you that made me want to stay with you..."

"What I'm trying to say Naruto, is that I love you too." Sakura finished.

He just smiled and pulled her into a hug which she eagerly returned.

**The Next Morning:**

Naruto and Sakura had been woken up by Konan, apparently Pain wanted to see them.

They strolled into the meeting room, finding Pain waiting for them.

"Naruto, Sakura, over the past 7 years you've both improved greatly, there is one more test you must undertake however before you're accepted into Akatsuki. Zetsu has been keeping an eye on Orochimaru since he defected from the organization, apparently he plans to attack Konoha during the upcoming Chuunin Exams, you two are going to enter the exams and prevent this invasion at all costs. Konoha needs to stay intact for our plans to come to fruition." Pain explained.

"Do this and we'll welcome you into the Akatsuki. You'll be leaving in 2 days, use the remaining time you have here to prepare. Also, you will tell no-one in Konoha of this invasion or about what you have been doing for the past 7 years. If anyone asks why you are wearing an Amegakure headband, tell them Itachi abandoned you after he kidnapped you, and a kind Jounin found and brought you here. Do I make myself clear?" Pain finished.

Naruto and Sakura nodded. They left the room, heading back to theirs.

"Back to Konoha eh? That sounds like fun."

**END.**

Quick A/N:

I apologise for the complexity of the Summoning Technique, I know it's hard to understand.

I'm no good at romance but I tried my best.

Sorry this took so long! I don't know when the next chapter will be ready.

Thanks for reading, leave a review if you're feeling generous!

Take care, HaremNoJutsu.


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